









•A' ■'-''' '^'' ""^-^^^ ••^-4°" ^^/ -'A' %.*' 



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The FORMAL OPENING 
of the NEW FIREPROOF 
BUILDING of the HISTOR- 
ICAL SOCIETY of PENN- 
SYLVANIA, APRIL 6-7, 1910 






Reprinted from " The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biog- 
raphy " for July^ igio 



Printed by 
J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 

PHILADELPHIA, PA. 



THE FORMAL OPENING OF THE 

NEW FIREPROOF BUILDING OF 

THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

OF PENNSYLVANIA, 

APRIL 6-7, 1910. 



The formal opening of the new fireproof building of 
the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, located at the 
southwest corner of Thirteenth and Locust Streets, took 
place on the afternoon of April 6, 1910, in the presence 
of a distinguished assemblage of historians, scholars, 
members, and their guests, and was in charge of the follow- 
ing Committee : 

Thomas Willing Balch, John F. Lewis, 

Richard M. Cadwalader, Thomas L. Montgomery, 

Hampton L. Carson, George W. Norris, 

John Cadwalader, John P. Nicholson, 

John H. Converse, S. W. Penny packer, 

William Drayton, William Pepper, 

O'Hara Darlington, William Potter, 

George H. Earle, W. Brooke Rawle, 

W. Macpherson Hornor, John Thompson Spencer, 

Charles E. Ingersoll, Charles Morton Smith, 

John W. Jordan, George Steinman, 

Gregory B. Keen, Charlemagne Tower, 

William H. Lambert, Alexander VanRenssaelaer, 
Francis Howard Williams. 

(1) 



2 Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 

Prior to the ceremonies, the visitors spent their time 
going through the spacious building, examining the rare 
books, collections of paintings and relics, in Stille Hall, 
Hall of Governors, Gilpin Library, and the priceless collec- 
tions in the Manuscript Department, the Assembly Hall, 
and rooms of the officers of the Society. The floral display 
was very attractive. 

At 4 o'clock the large and distinguished audience gath- 
ered in Assembly and Stille Halls, between which a platform 
had been erected, where were seated officers of the Society 
and members of the Building Committee. The President, 
Hon. Samuel Whi taker Pennypacker, LL.D., opened the 
ceremonies by introducing John Frederic Lewis, Esq., 
chairman of the Building Committee, who was greeted with 
applause, as he arose to speak. 

After rendering formal thanks to the architect, Addison 
Hutton, and the builders, J. E. and A. L. Pennock, through 
whose sympathetic co-operation it had been possible to 
make the new building an example of greater economy per 
square feet than any other in Philadelphia, and describing 
the unique system of fireproof construction, Mr, Lewis 
continued : 

The building which has been erected for the Society is 
admirably fitted for the purpose intended. Its chief aim 
was to serve as a fireproof storage for the Society's invalu- 
able collections, and this aim has been constantly kept in 
view in every detail of its design and construction. Its 
walls are of brick, a material already burned, and are of 
great thickness, with ventilating air shafts to the roof. No 
wood whatsoever has been used in the construction of the 
building. The interior of the building has been divided 
into units, so to speak, of fire risk; each portion being 
separated from the next to it by a fireproof door hung 
on an inclined railway track, counter-weighted in such a 
manner that at a dangerous elevation of temperature, a 



Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 3 

fusible plug melts, the weights fall off and the door auto- 
matically closes. The window frames are of iron, and 
even the sash also, and instead of plain glass being used, 
half-inch wired glass has been employed throughout the 
building. 

The stairway for the entire western portion of the build- 
ing is carried in a separate stair well, well fitted with an 
Underwriter's door upon every floor, and all the windows 
on the south of the building are not only supplied with 
iron sash and frames and wired glass, but also with rolling 
steel shutters which make the building safe from flames in 
this direction. 

Bookcases of steel have been supplied throughout the 
building with the exception of two or three rooms, which 
it is the intention of the Committee to supply, and the 
large tables used by the public for consulting the Society's 
collections are of mahoganized steel, so that in every possi- 
ble way the building has been made as absolutely fireproof 
as modern ingenuity and skill can devise. 

The public does not realize the immense value of the 
collections of the Society. Perhaps in no single place is 
there anywhere brought together such wonderful records of 
the sources of American history, and the Council of the 
Society recognized the fact that the care of these records 
forever was its primary duty and has kept this steadfastly 
in mind. 

At the conclusion of his description, Mr. Lewis turned to 
President Pennypacker and handed to him the master keys 
of the building and said : 

And now, sir, it gives me, on behalf of the Building 
Committee, the greatest pleasure to turn this handsome 
structure over to you as President of the Society. 
(Applause.) 



4 Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 

Address of the Hon. Samuel W. Pennypacker, LL.D. 

Ladies and Gentlemen : 

The purpose of this address, in accepting the Hall which 
in your behalf with gratitude I now do, is to ascertain and 
narrate the origin, development and, to some extent, the 
existing condition of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. 
The tale to be told is simple, and gives little opportunity for 
embellishment in its structure, or oratory in its expression. 
At the outset, if there be any here on the lookout for the 
turn of phrases, or who anticipate the beautiful and the 
ornate, permit me to say to them in the language of Lord 
Berners, wlio in the early sixteenth century translated the 
Chronicles of Sir John Froissart, " I know myself insuflS.- 
cient in the facondyous arte of rethoryke." Further, I ask 
them, following still the thought of this early delver in his- 
torical lore, " yf any faute be to laye it to myn unconnynge 
and derke ingnoraunce and to mynysshe, adde, or augment 
as they shall fynde cause requysyte." To quote another 
authority perhaps equally venerable and reliable, if less 
polite, in the words of the nursery rhyme with which you 
are all familiar : 

"If you want any more 
You may sing it yourself." 

The beginnings of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 
like those of most human institutions and of all natural 
growths, were humble and more or less obscure. It 
pleases the fancies of men in explaining their own origin 
to imagine that they came with the dawn from beyond 
the clouds, that their forefathers lived in castles across 
the blue seas and that the founders of the fortunes of 
their families went about in dress suits and wearing kid 
gloves. The Peruvians believe that their first Lica, 
Mango Capac, came direct from the sun ; the Romans 
trace their origin to pious ^ueas of the royal house of 



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Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 5 

Troy ; and the Greeks told us that Pallas sprang full-grown, 
armed and wise from the brain of Zeus. 

Nothing ever happens in that way. The oak tree and the 
elephant with all of their strength and the lily and the bird-of- 
Paradise with all of their beauty, come alike by slow proc- 
esses from the common brown earth which we wash from 
our hands and brush from our coats with a semblance of 
conten^pt. The ancestors of the Capets, who gave to France 
her early line of kings, and of the Plantagenets, the 
proudest of the royal families of England, were both 
ignorant peasants tilling together the same soil along the 
seashore of Western Europe. 

No doubt there were those in every period from the plant- 
ing of tlie Province who had some taste for the cultivation 
of history and the will to make some elfort for the preserva- 
tion of its sources. The same authority I have before cited. 
Lord Berners, says, " But, above all thynges wherby mans 
welthe ryseth, speciall laude and praise ought to be gyven to 
historic : it is the keper of such thinges as have ben vertuously 
done and the wytnesse of yvell dedes : and by ihe benefite 
of hystorie all noble highe and vertuous actes be immortall 
. . , . it moveth stereth and compelleth to honestie : 
detesteth erketh and abhorreth vices : itextolleth enhaunceth 
and lyfteth up suche as ben noble and vertuous : depresseth 
po^'stereth and thrusteth downe such as ben wicked yvell and 
reproveable ;" and he continues, " whan I advertysed and 
remembered the many folde comodyties of hystorie howe 
benefyciall it is to mortall folke, and eke how laudable and 
merytoryous a dede it is to write hystories, I fixed my mynde 
to do something therein." Others have been incited by the 
same ambition and have followed the same path with like 
zeal if with less distinction. Massachusetts, which is ever 
active and alert, organized an Historical Society in 1791. 
This example was followed by New York in 1804, Maine 
and Rhode Island in 1822, New Hampshire in 1823, and 
Pennsylvania in 1824. 

In 1815, the American Philosophical Society appointed 



6 Formal Opening of the Neiv Fireproof Building. 

a Committee upon Literature and History. It was a large 
committee, never re\dved, whose labors appear to have 
ceased within the next decade. There liave been those who 
thought that the origin of this Society could be traced to 
the eftbrt of that committee ; but an investigation fails to 
disclose evidence to support the theor3^ The contempora- 
neous records, the fact that another meeting place was 
selected, and certain early indications of estrangement, all 
suggest a different view. Mathew Carey, commenting in 
1826 on the first volume of our " Memoirs" says : " This 
publication recalls to mind a plan I formed when a book- 
seller many years since, when I contemplated making an 
effort to establish an Historical Society." George Wash- 
ington Smith, who later became the Secretary, after a 
conversation with Dewitt Clinton, in 1823, returned to 
Philadelphia, having in mind the same thought. 

The movement, however, which resulted in the formation 
of the Society seems to have had its inspiration, like so many 
other efforts for advancement in the early days of the Prov- 
ince and State, among the Friends. The first definite in- 
formatiou upon the subject is found in a letter, 9 mo. 28th, 
1824, by Roberts Yaux, a noted Quaker, devoted to philan- 
thropy, education and literature, father of a Mayor of 
Philadelphia, written to John F. Watson, the annalist. 
Watson had contemplated giving his MS. collections, which 
subsequently became the property of our Society, to the 
American Philosophical Society. Yaux advised him not 
to make that disposition of them, saying : " For some time 
past, I have been endeavoring to interest our intelligent 
Philadelphia and Pennsylvania fellow citizens with a plan 
for an Historical Society, which can devote itself exclu- 
sively to this too long neglected subject. The proposal is 
gaining friends and promises to succeed. It will be 
composed of men in the vigor of life and intellect from 
whom labour may be expected and such must be brought 
to the task if Pennsylvania is ever elevated in this de- 
partment of literature. Is it too late to direct thy work 



Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. ,1 

to Buch a Society ? It would form a starting point, and 
would no doubt insure the foundation of such an asso- 
ciation, could I be at liberty to say that thee is disposed to- 
patronize the effort by contributing this Ms. Be pleased 
to reflect upon this proposal and communicate thy opinions 
and views. I wish to be understood as entertaining great 
respect for the Philosophical Society, but I know it is un- 
equal to the department of History." 

A meeting was held on the 2d of December, 1824, at 
the house of Thomas I. Wharton, a man of great legal re- 
pute, on the west side of Sixth Street between Chestnut 
and "Walnut Streets. There were present Roberts Vaux, 
Stephen Duncan, Thomas I. Wharton, William Rawle, Jr., 
Dr. Benjamin H. Coates, Dr. Caspar Wistar and George 
W. Smith, whom as founders you ought henceforth to re- 
vere. Roberts Vaux presided, and Smith acted as Secre- 
tary. Two resolutions were adopted. One set forth "that 
it is expedient to form a society for the purpose of elucida- 
ting the history of the state," and the other provided for 
a committee to draft by-laws. Wharton offered both of 
them. Then there was an adjournment for two weeks, but 
the first step had been taken in that long, devious and un- 
certain path which led to these vast collections and to this 
impressive Hall. 

The meetings of a Society of this character could not be 
continued in a gentleman's parlor; and it became necessary 
to secure a location. The next meeting, upon the 27th of 
December, attended by fifteen persons, was held " at the 
apartments of the Phrenological Society in Carpenter's 
Court " ; and amid these unpropitious and incongruous sur- 
roundings your Society first found a shelter. Vaux con- 
tinued to preside until the meeting on che 28th of February, 
1825, but a committee had been appointed to wait upon the 
eminent lawyer William Rawle, author of a book upon the 
Constitution of the United States, accepted as a text-book 
in the schools, and invite him to lend the weight of his 
strength and influence in the community by becoming the 



8 Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 

first President under the by-laws. He assented upon cer- 
tain conditions, with which the Society complied. Three 
classes of members were created : contributing members, 
consisting of persons living in the city of Philadelphia,^or 
within ten miles of it; corresponding members, of persons 
living in any other part of Pennsylvania; and honorary 
members, of persons living " in any part of America or else- 
where, and females may be admitted into it." To the first 
and second classes no person was eligible " unless he be a 
native of Pennsylvania or domiciliated there for the space 
of ten years." It ^v\\l be observed that the organization 
provided for an intense Pennsylvania Society. The other 
condition was that there should be ten standing committees, 
whose work should cover in detail the domain of Pennsyl- 
vania history. 

In the apartments in Carpenter's Court, the Society re- 
ceived its earliest donation, "a silver medal of William 
Penn," from Joseph Sansom, and elected its first officers : 
William Rawle, President; Roberts Vaux and Thomas 
Duncan, Vice-Presidents ; Joseph Hopkinson, Correspond- 
ing Secretary; George W. Smith, Recording Secretary;. 
William M. Walmsley, Treasurer ; and Thos. C. James, 
Joseph Reed, Thomas H. White, Thomas I. Wharton, Ste- 
phen Duncan, Daniel A. Smith, Samuel Jackson, William 
Rawle, Jr., and Benjamin H. Coates, Members of the 
Council. Appropriately enough, the earliest paper read 
before the Society was one by Roberts Vaux on " The 
Locality of the First Treaty held with the Indians in 
Pennsylvania;" and then the President on the 5th of No- 
vember, 1825, delivered his inaugural discourse at the 
University of Pennsylvania, on Ninth Street above Chestnut 
Street, in the lecture room where Dr. Nathaniel Chapman 
taught medicine, at 12 o'clock noon, before a large audience 
of members, citizens and strangers, " including many ladies." 

Throughout all of the earlier years of the existence of the 
Society there continued a ceaseless effort to secure a foot- 
hold somewhere. In September, 1825, it removed to the 


















THE PRESIDENTS 



Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 9 

Southeast room upstairs in the hall of the American Philo- 
sophical Society, over the Athenaeum, where it undertook 
to pay fifty dollars a year rent. The Council met at seven 
o'clock in the evenings ; and their Secretary, the ahle Wm. 
B. Reed, to whom must be accorded the honor of publishing 
our first serious revolutionary biography, read his minutes 
by the light of a candle. 

On the 17th of November, 1829, a Committee of the 
Council were charged with the duty " of enquiring for a 
room suitable for the meetings of the Society." Their 
modest hopes were limited to one room. In 1832, the Athe- 
naeum propounded a scheme for the different literary and 
scientific societies of the city to erect an edifice in common, 
and this Society appointed a committee to confer and en- 
quire " whether any part of the Girard Fund can be applied 
to the purchase of a lot." We have in this connection the 
earliest suggestion of a fireproof building. ISTothing came of 
the effort, and in April, 1833, the committee offered a resolu- 
tion that the future meetings be held at the College of Phar- 
macy, on Zane [now Filbert] Street, where a room could be 
secured for $25 a year. The resolution was promptly laid 
upon the table. The Society did not have the exclusive use 
of the room occupied by it. On July 17, 1833, a committee 
was appointed to ascertain whether the space between the 
front windows could not be obtained for a bookcase. It ap- 
pears that on December 17, 1834, a committee was directed 
"to enquire for a room for the accommodation of the Society ;" 
and again, January 19, 1842, another committee to ascertain 
whether a room could not be secured for its exclusive use. 
From the latter action it is evident that up to that time the So- 
ciety still shared its habitation with some other organization. 

On the 22d of April, 1844, there was rented for $100 per 
annum the Southeast room in the second story of the build- 
ing No. 115 [now No. 211] South Sixth Street, below Wal- 
nut, belonging to the Pennsylvania Life Insurance Company ; 
and soon afterward a lamp was bought for the head of the 
Btairs leading to "the New Hall." The Society removed there, 



10 Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 

but for some reason the location did not prove to be satisfac- 
tory. In 1845, the Mercantile Library Company was erecting 
its building on Fifth Street, below Chestnut, and an effort 
was made to secure a room in its third story. A more ambi- 
tious attempt was made the following year, when a con- 
ference took place with the owner of the Norris house to 
" ascertain if she would consent to sell the same if the 
Society could procure a purchaser pledged to its perpetual 
preservation." Both of these efforts proved abortive, and the 
Society settled down at least to the extent of supplying the 
" hall" with candles and candlesticks and placing its name 
over the door. Deliverance came at last. In 1846, the Athe- 
naeum erected its building on Sixth Street, below Walnut, 
and consented to let the Society have a room twenty-four 
feet by twenty-seven feet in dimensions, for the rental of |200 
per annum. The Athenpeum did more, and allayed another 
pressing and chronic difficulty. It loaned to the Society, 
upon bond being given, one-fourth of its funds for four years 
without interest. On the 22d of November, 1847, the 
Council met at the new location for the first time and at 
once proposed to have the New England Society share 
their good fortune. The move it is manifest was regarded 
as important. William B. Eeed made an address at the open- 
ing of the hall ; Michael Kelly was engaged to take charge 
of it at a cost of $20 a year, and an arrangement was made 
at an expense of not more than $50 that it should be acces- 
sible every Saturday afternoon throughout the entire year. 

Through the whole of the period described there was an 
ever present need of money. In May of 1838, the rent due 
for the year before remained unpaid ; on February 13, 1840, 
the funds on hand amounted to $57.40 ; on August 5, 1844, 
the Treasurer was authorized to borrow one hundred dol- 
lars " to pay the most urgent demands ;" and in February, 
1845, the balance in the treasury had fallen to $2.71. On 
April 25, 1842, the Treasurer of the American Philosophi- 
cal Society was very urgent concerning the failure to pay 
" a certain amount due for rent." 



l-H 

a 




Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 11 

The zeal with which many of the members started out in 
the work at times flagged even to the extent of failing for 
several years to pay their dues. There was no meeting of 
the Society from February 3, 1834, until February 2, 1835, 
none between May of 1836 and February of 1837, and 
none in 1843 after February. Between June of 1831 and 
January of 1833, a period of about eighteen months, there 
were only two meetings of the Council. The Secretary 
occasionally neglected to sign his minutes, and even to enter 
them. Distress is shown in the fact that on February 5, 
1838, a committee was appointed to ' suggest a plan which 
may help to revive the Society;" on September 15, 1841, a 
committee was appointed " to take measures to rejuvenate 
the Society;" on November 28, 1842, one " to devise means 
for increasing the funds," and one November 25, 1844, 
" upon the propriety of reorganizing the Society, and if they 
deem a reorganization advisable to report a suitable plan." 
"When Daniel A. Desmond died, in 1849, it was said of him, 
that he was " one to whom much of the credit of aiding in 
the resuscitation of the Society is justly due." 

Usually some person of local prominence delivered an 
annual address. The Society had no place suitable for 
the purpose, and was dependent upon the generosity ot 
other associations. At various times the University ot 
Pennsylvania, the Franklin Institute, the Museum, and the 
Circuit Court gave the use of their halls. Once in a while 
in these days of weakness, the request met with scant 
courtesy. In 1825, in response to an application for certain 
manuscripts in the possession of the American Philosophical 
Society or for permission to copy them, that institution 
sent a resolution " that it is not expedient to grant the 
request of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania." In 
1842, the University of Pennsylvania quite curtly declined 
to loan one of its halls in order that Job R. Tyson might 
there deliver the annual address, and with becoming meek- 
ness the Society invited the Trustees to be present in the 
lecture room of the Museum Buildins^. 



12 Fornud Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 

And now, having endeavored to depict the difficulties 
and tribulations that beset the nascent undertaking, let 
us turn to the brighter side of the picture. Among 
those connected with the Society in its beginnings were 
men of the type of Peter S. Du Ponceau, Joshua Francis 
Fisher, Job R, Tyson, William B. Reed, and Roberts Vaux, 
who were earnestly concerned for the preservation and 
elucidation of the history of the State ; and by activity and 
zeal the Society to a great extent overcame the disadvantages 
arising from lack of financial and numerical strength. The 
organization had hardly taken place before the committee 
entered into communication with the representatives of the 
older faniilies of the city and State with a view to securing 
and preserving such papers as lapse of time had spared. It 
is to this policy, thus early established and actively pur- 
sued, that v\re owe our exceptional wealth of manuscripts. 
Already, in 1825, arrangements had been made with Deborah 
Logan, that wonderful woman who may be described as the 
precursor of this Society, for the publication of the results 
of her labors in the collection of the Penn and Loe:an corre- 
spondence. It is to be regretted that we have only fulfilled 
our duties in this respect to the extent of two volumes. 
However, when she died, in 1839, her praises were set forth 
as " a lady whose pure virtues, mental endowments and 
attractive gentleness of manners, rendered her the ornament 
of this Society and the pride of her numerous friends." 

In 1827, the family of Governor James Hamilton pre- 
sented a hundred original letters of Thomas Penn. In 
1833, Du Ponceau translated from the Swedish language for 
the Society the work of Thomas Campanius Holme. In 
1838, Iliester H. Muhlenberg, of Reading, sent the letters of 
Conrad Weiser, the man upon whom the American Colonies 
depended in their negotiations with the Indians, and to 
whom in a recent biography has been assigned an absurd 
portrait of a person in a high hat and wearing a huge 
diamond stud. When the Society was five years old, its 
collections had grown to such an extent that Fisher and 



Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 13 

Samuel Hazard were appointed a committee to consider the 
means of procuring a bookcase " for the reception of the 
books and papers." In 1830, Watson, the annalist, pre- 
sented his MS. volume, calling attention to the fact that in 
publication, in order to keep down the size, much relating 
to the Revolutionary War and to his own family, and the 
observations of a Quaker lady, had been omitted. 

Happily, pleasant relations with the Penn family were 
early established. When the first volume of the Memoirs 
was published it was ordered that a copy be " elegantly 
bound for transmission to G. Penn;" and almost contem- 
poraneously, Granville Penn sent to the Society " an 
original portrait of William Penn, his grandfather." This 
is the youthful portrait in armor. The presentation was 
made in 1833 ; and it is to be observed, that the portrait was 
then described as the original. The Society did not know 
what to do with it, and left it in the custody of John 
Vaughan, unless sent for by the President, who was author- 
ized if he deem proper to place it in the then coming exhi- 
bition of the Academy of Fine Arts. He sent it instead to 
the Philadelphia Library, where it remained for over a year; 
and it was then removed to the hall of the American Philo- 
sophical Society. The generosity of Granville Penn did not 
rest with the presentation of the portrait. In 1834, he sent 
a view painted on wood of the meeting-house at Jordans, a 
small portrait of Governor Patrick Gordon, the portraits of 
two Indian chiefs (Tishishan and Lapovvinsa), and a gold 
rina: containins^ a lock of the hair of William Penn. 
Two years later, the Council directed that this ring " be 
hereafter worn by the President at the meetings of the 
Council and Society." For the first time within my recol- 
lection, this direction is to-day observed. 

On the 23d of September, 1840, an event occurred which 
then had the appearance of being nothing more than an 
ordinary incident, but upon which it may be truly said the 
future welfare of the Society depended. I read from the 
minutes : " John Jordan, Jr., proposed by Mr. Vaughan, and 



14 Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 

Joseph R. Chandler, nominated by Mr. Tyson, were both 
elected contributing members." As so often happens in human 
affairs, Mr. Vaughan was probably wholly unconscious of 
what was involved in the action taken on his recommenda- 
tion. Occasionally differences of opinion as to policy arose, 
ae is inevitable. In 1841, a fine of twenty-five cents was im- 
posed "on ever}' member absent from the meetings of 
Council without a satisfactory excuse." At a later meeting, 
a motion to rescind this action failed, whereupon Samuel 
Brack resigned. In 1842, it was determined to give a 
course of public lectures, and after invitation John Quincy 
Adams consented to make one of the addresses. The scheme 
proved to be too ponderous for the strength of the Society 
and succumbed. However, a few months later Louis 
Philippe, King of France, sent to it a somewhat elaborate 
description of the galleries at Versailles. Here was recog- 
nition which deserved grateful attention, and a matter of 
such importance required all the art and exuberance ot 
expression that could be given. One of the series of resolu- 
tions adopted declared " that the Society has observed with 
great satisfaction that among the monuments of the reign 
of that monarch who first acknowledged the independence 
of the United States, and whose friendship and zeal for the 
cause of our country did not cease to be displayed by his 
friendly assistance until our rights were fully secured by an 
honorable peace, there are no less than five paintings illus- 
trative of the Siege and Capture of Yorktown, an event 
which was achieved by the united arms of the two countries, 
and the memory of which is so well fitted to strengthen 
and perpetuate the friendship existing between them." 
(With your permission I shall for a moment pause.) Those 
of you who chance to have been at Versailles will recall 
how insignificant a place the Continental Army has in the 
paintings which there preserve the memory of the surrender 
of Lord Cornwallis to the Frencli fleet at Yorktown. 

In 1844, the Society sent a signed circular letter to 
postmasters and persons of local reputation throughout the 



Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 15 

State, asking their assistance in gathering historical infor- 
mation. Few responses resulted. The first came from the 
father of the present President of the Society, who sent a 
MS. history in two volumes and gave permission that they 
should be copied. The plant had produced fruit, and the 
outcome received the most respectful treatment. At an 
annual meeting " Mr. Duane laid upon the table a copy of 
Mr, Pennypacker's MS. History of Schuylkill Township, 
Chester County, prepared " (copied) " by the joint labors of 
several members of the Society." 

The publication of Hazard's Register of Pennsylvania 
with its wealth of historical and statistical information, of 
the Colonial Records and Archives wherein are preserved 
many papers relating to the history of the State which have 
since been lost, and of Watson's Annals of Philadelphia, 
and the passage of the act of Assembly requiring the regis- 
tration of marriages, births and deaths, were all due in large 
part to efforts of and encouragement given by this Society 
in its early years. 

With the removal to the room in the Athenaeum build- 
ing, when it may be said to have ceased to be a wanderer, 
came the dawn of future prosperity. Even here the Wander- 
lust did not altogether disappear ; and four years later an 
effbrt was made to secure the " old slate roof house," on 
Second Street, for its use. Happily the effbrt did not succeed, 
since to have moved in that direction would have been to 
have stunted growth. An additional room, secured in 1860, 
relieved to some extent the pressure, and gave temporary 
content. At this time subscriptions to a building fund 
amounted to $5,000. The members made pilgrimages to 
the site of Fort Nassau, " built by the Dutch in 1623," to 
Tinicum and to Chester. Courses of popular lectures were 
devised. Among those who delivered these lectures was 
Robert Montgomery Bird, who in " Nick of the Woods " 
had produced what yet remains the most meritorious and 
artistic of all tales of the Indian Wars; and among those 
invited was James Buchanan. Because of his success in 



16 Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 

writing the " Proverbial Philosophy," as I suppose, Martin 
Farquhar Tupper was elected to membership. The custom 
arose of electing conspicuous persons to membership and 
trusting to fortune for their acceptance. When a rash 
member of the Council proposed that thereafter none should 
be elected except persons whose assent had been first ob- 
tained, he was treated, like the suifragettes of to-day, with 
proper scorn. 

George Sharswood, afterward Chief Justice of the Com- 
monwealth, often presided at the meetings. James K. Polk 
and Francis R. Shunk, the one President of the United 
States and the other Governor of the Commonwealth, were 
elected to membership upon the same day in 1845; and in 
1861, amid the excitement of the opening scenes of the 
war, the names of Gen. Winfield Scott, Admiral Charles 
Stewart and Commodore George C. Read appear. 

The librarian, at a meeting in 1851, reported that five 
hundred copies of the Memoirs "had been discovered in 
clearing out the store of the late Thomas Davis." The 
volumes, abandoned to their fate and forgotten as time 
rolled along, had been revealed by the researches of the 
representatives of the dead publisher. 

On the 12th of January, 1852, Granville John Penn 
made a visit to the rooms of the Society and wrote his 
autograph in its book of minutes. Introduced by a com- 
mittee appointed to wait upon him, the President delivered 
an address to which he responded and " returned his 
thanks." Soon after his return to England, he presented 
the belt of wampum representing the famous treaty of peace 
between William Penn and the Indians, never signed and 
never broken, which belt, presented to Penn by the Indians, 
remains one of our most cherished possessions. About this 
time the members gave much attention to the subject of 
the treaty, and even endeavored to secure by purchase the 
ground in Kensington where it is believed to have occurred. 
The wampum came to them though they failed to get the 
ground. 



Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 17 

In 1852, a committee waited upon Mr. John Bacon to per- 
suade him to donate " the site on which Franklin made his 
experiments in electricity for the purpose of erecting a mon- 
ument to his memory on the spot." It would appear that 
Mr. John Bacon proved obdurate. 

On the 9th of June, 1851, Horatio Gates Jones, always 
active in the affairs of the Society and one of its benefactors, 
remembered for his studies of the Wissahickon and the Rit- 
tenhouse paper mill, offered a resolution " that the Society 
hereafter celebrate the 24th day of October as the landing of 
the great and good founder of our State upon our shores." 
Fisher, Rawle, Sharswood, Meredith, Jordan, Duane, Arm- 
strong, Jones and Shippen were selected to take charge of the 
movement. Trouble arose about the date, which was finally 
determined to be the 8th of November, and an annual dinner 
resulted, continued with some interruptions and vicissitudes 
down to the present time. On the anniversary in 1852, 
Joseph Harrison informed the members that he had pur- 
chased the painting of the " Treaty" by Benjamin West, that 
marvelously successful Pennsylvania artist whom we to-day 
with weak affectation permit modern critics and faddists to 
depreciate. He displayed likewise "an original miniature 
of William Penn." What has become of that miniature? 

Edward Armstrong anticipated our present Genealogical 
Society when, in 1849, he announced his purpose to publish 
the genealogies of the families settled in Pennsylvania 
before 1800. 

In days when young ladies were still upon occasion read- 
ing the tales of Mrs. Radcliffe, we, too, had our mysterious 
occurrences. On December 13, 1852, " A Sealed Packet, 
containing a printed narrative of an event of importance in 
the history of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Diocese 
of Pennsylvania from Bishop Upfold, with the request that, 
should the Society consent to accept the parcel, it would 
be with the understanding that the same was not to be 
opened for the period of twenty-five years." The parcel 
contained three copies of a printed but unpublished pamph- 



18 Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 

let. That this pamphlet mentioned the name of somebody 
can only be inferred. The parcel was received, but never 
opened. The Alexandrine library was burned; the Sibyl- 
line books were destroyed ; and a lead pencil memorandum 
shows that this parcel was " reclaimed." 

In 1855, the Society received what appears to have been 
its first large bequest, the sum of ten thousand dollars from 
Elliott Cresson. In the beginning of 1854, it possessed two 
thousand eight hundred and twenty-one bound volumes, 
fourteen hundred and ninety-four unbound pamphlets, and 
in the fireproof were treasured one hundred bound volumes 
of manuscripts. The annual receipts were : 

From life members . . , $140 

From contributing members 1011 

From Interest on the Permanent Fund .... 42 



$1193 

On the 13th of February of that year, under the inspira- 
tion of Townsend "Ward, began the contributions to the 
Publication Fund. In April it contained $1,000 from fifty 
subscribers; in May $2,500; in June $3,000, and by March 
of 1856 it had reached a total of $10,000. Much encour- 
aged, the indefatigable and persuasive Ward, in 1855, began 
to accumulate a Building Fund. 

For the fourth of April, 1856, the Society secured the 
Musical Fund Hall, the most spacious and imposing then 
in the city, and prevailed upon Edward Everett, the bland 
phrase maker of the time, to deliver his oration upon Wash- 
ington. Every seat in the house was filled. The net pro- 
ceeds, $786.57, were applied to the purchase of Mount Ver- 
non. Do not permit the important part which you took in 
that work of national historical significance to be forgotten. 

Prosperity is never an unmixed advantage. Wealth is 
apt to result in sybaritic indulgence. Successful efibrt is 
followed by a period of lassitude. The pampered stomach 
craves after haschisch and the lotos. The scheme of the 
founders was as broad as the Commonwealth, and they 



Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 19 

intended to weave into a beautiful and harmonious piece of 
tapestry all of the rich and varied strands which enter into 
its unique development, giving it both strength and attrac- 
tiveness. One of the earliest papers read before the Society 
gave a description, by Shem Zook, of those interesting 
people the Amish of Lancaster and other interior counties 
of the State. For the observance of its annual dinner the 
Society in 1851 went to Chester. Edward Armstrong 
delivered his address in the Methodist Episcopal Church 
there; the dinner was served in T. A. Price's National 
Hotel. In 1853, on a like occasion its members went to 
Reading and listened to an oration by Charles Jared Inger- 
soll, after which " the Society sat down to a dinner at 
Bourbon's Hotel." At another time, in 1859, they heard an 
address and ate a dinner at the old Sun Tavern in Bethle- 
hem. Charles Miner suggested that auxiliary Societies be 
established in the different counties. Unfortunately, this 
wise course failed then, as it did when again broached at a 
later time. With the increase of resources and of the 
demands upon the time and thought of those who gave 
attention to the work, there arose a tendency to narrow 
the scope of the design and, as a result, many opportunities 
have been lost and a large part of our field has been occu- 
pied by others. With the recent great growth in the mem- 
bership and the facilities afforded by this spacious hall, it is 
hoped that the tendency referred to may be overcome. 

During the two decades which followed the removal to the 
Athenseum building, we had grown far beyond the facilities 
there afforded, and the necessity of securing a more com- 
modious location had become imperative. The collections 
included twelve thousand volumes, eighty thousand pamph- 
lets, sixty-five portraits and twelve other historical paint- 
ings. The Binding Fund amounted to $3,500; the Life 
Membership Fund to $7,000; the Building Fund to 
$12,775; and the Publication Fund to $17,000. The 
Society had just been successful in one of its most im- 
portant ventures and had obtained from the Penn family, 



20 Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 

at a cost of |4,000 provided for by subscriptions, the 
invaluable mass of Penn manuscripts which had been inher- 
ited from the proprietor and his sons. The membership, 
which in 1826 had consisted often contributors and twenty 
others, in 1830 of eight contributors and twenty-five others, 
in 1836 of twenty-four contributors and fifty-nine others, 
and in 1850 of two hundred and ninety contributors, 
had increased to six hundred. At this opportune time 
a vista of progress opened up before the Society. On 
the south side of Spruce Street, between Eighth and 
Ninth, No. 820, stood a two-story brick building readily 
adaptable to the needs of the Society. The sentiment about 
this building was in itself inspiring. It belonged to the 
Pennsylvania Hospital, the earliest in America and the out- 
come of the Quaker spirit of philanthropy, to which Matthias 
Koplin, of Perkiomen, had given its first donation of land. 
The building had been erected as a place for the exhibition 
of West's great painting of" Christ healing the sick," which 
he had presented to the Hospital. It was therefore a 
symbol and an epitome of the triumphs of Pennsylvania in 
history, art, philanthropy and generosity. This building 
the Trustees of the Hospital leased to the Society for a 
term of ten years at a merely nominal rental, upon the con- 
dition that it should pay for the necessary alterations. At 
the occupancy of the building, on the 11th of March, 1872, 
John William Wallace, the President, and the learned and 
accomplished compiler of Wallace's Reports of the Decisions 
of the Supreme Court of the United States, and of " The 
Reporters," delivered an address. The advantage of the 
move was shown in the fact that almost at once the active 
membership grew to nine hundred and thirty-three persons. 
At length, after an existence of nearly fifty years, the Society 
had a home where its treasures could be displayed and 
utilized and its meetings could be held in comfort. 

The advancement of the Society may be divided into a 
series of characteristic epochs in which its fortunes seemed 



Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 21 

to concentrate around some individual, generally the libra- 
rian. The period of the founders and of the mere struggle 
for existence was followed by that of John Jordan, Jr., and 
the accretion of the manuscripts, and in turn by that of 
Frederick D. Stone and Charles R. Hildeburn, at 820 Spruce 
Street, with the accumulation of the early newspapers and 
imprints. Throughout the ten years spent at this location, 
fruitful in the growth of collections and resources, the hope 
of presently owning a building in which permanent arrange- 
ments could be made, was ever an incentive to effort. In 
1832, John Hare Powel, an influential citizen of Philadel- 
phia, built a mansion at the southwest corner of Thirteenth 
and Locust Streets. In 1836, it became the home of Major 
General Robert Patterson, who gained military reputation 
in two successive wars, the Mexican War and the War of 
the Rebellion. It contained a frontage of ninety-five feet 
on Locust Street and a depth of one hundred and twenty feet 
on Thirteenth Street. This property, in 1882, the Society 
bought at a cost, with fifty-five feet added later on Locust 
Street and the required alterations, of $126,201.41. John 
Jordan, Jr., gave $15,000 for the erection of a fireproof 
addition ; and Brinton Coxe, the then President, made an 
address at the opening, on the 14th of March, 1884. 

The epoch which ensued may be properly designated as 
the period of expansion, enlightened by the publication of 
the Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, for 
the greater part of the time under the capable direction of 
Dr. John W. Jordan. But the end was not yet. The 
building, capacious and attractive, was in the main not of 
fireproof construction ; and the valuable collections were 
subject to all the vicissitudes which might possibly result. 
Originating with "William Brooke Rawle, a scion of the iron 
family of Brooke along the Schuylkill, a great-grandson of 
William Rawle, the first President, a grandson of William 
Rawle, junior, one of the Founders, and himself a member 
in the fourth generation, and now one of the Vice-Presidents, 
a movement began in 1902 for such alterations of the build- 



22 Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 

ing as should make it entirely and absolutely safe from 
destruction or loss by fire. This plan involved an almost 
complete reconstruction and, as to the rest, readaptation. 

Samuel W. Pennypacker, William Brooke Rawle, and 
Thomas Gr. Morton, M.D., were appointed Trustees of the 
Building Fund, and on the death of Dr. Morton, John F. 
Lewis was ap^)ointed his successor. The fund raised by the 
Trustees was utilized by the following Committee on Fire- 
proof Building: John F. Lewis, Chairnum ,\ Samuel W. 
Pennypacker, William Brooke Rawle, James T. Mitchell, 
William H. Lambert, Edward Robins, John P. Nicholson, 
and William Drayton. 

The land and the building as it then existed had cost, as 

has been heretofore shown $126,201.41 

Dr. Charles J. Stille, one of the former Presidents, a de- 
scendant of the early Swedes upon the Delaware, who 
had been Provost of the University of Pennsylvania 
and had written a famous pamphlet on " How a Free 
People Conduct a Great War," and a Life of Wayne, 
had bequeathed for building purposes ...... 41,600.00 

The members and friends of the Society gave .... 21,700.00 

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, appreciating the 
fact that the history of the State depends upon the 
preservation of the records here collected, and rising to 
the obligations of duty, as it has ever done, contributed 150,000.00 



Making a total of $339,591.41 



To such proportions had grown an institution which in 
its origin had difficulty in paying a rental of $50 a year 
and had been glad to accept a room from the Phrenological 
Society in Carpenter's Court. Luportant and even essential 
as is the control of sufficient money, in the performance ot 
a great task much more is required. Had there not been 
intelligence, energy and activity in the direction of the 
work, no pyramid would ever have stood in the Valley of 
the Nile. When Lincoln was called upon by one of his 
generals for more men, it was suggested that what was 
needed was "more man." Happily, the man for this occa- 



Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 23 

sion stood at hand. 'No better fate could befall any society 
than to be able to find among its membership the strength 
and the skill which its necessities demand. To John F. 
Lewis, indefatigable, irrepressible and not to be misled, 
who for more than four years gave continuous and capable 
attention to every detail of design and construction, and to 
his colleagues on the Building Committee, are to be 
ascribed all those merits of arrangement, adaptability and 
utility which you see displayed before you. Four stories in 
height, and so founded as to be capable of indefinite further 
elevation ; with more attention wisely given to . capacity, 
safety and strength than to mere ornamentation ; with 
pleasing and attractive rooms for study, addresses and re- 
ceptions, this Hall amply and securely provides for our 
wants for many generations to come. Upon this eventful 
day, we may well be excused for entertaining a sense of 
self-congratulation. We have exceeded the utmost hopes 
of our revered founders, and the most brilliantly tinted an- 
ticipations of those who have had at heart our welfare. It 
is doubtful whether any other society in America, devoted 
to like pursuits, has equalled us in the outcome of our 
efforts and the literary value of our collections. 

The different funds of the Society contain the following 
sums as capital : 

The General Fund $8,108.98 

The Publication Fund 41,000.00 

The Binding Fund 5,300.00 

The Library Fund 20,505.00 

The Endowment Fund (which includes 
$25,000 bequeathed by George Plumer 
Smith, and $50,000 recently contributed 

by Mrs. Frederic C. Penfield) . . . . 141,647.69 

The Ferdinand J. Dreer Fund .... 15.000.00 

The Howard Williams Lloyd Fund . . 5,000.00 

The Samuel L. Smedley Fund .... 6,100.00 

The Charles J. Still6 Fund 10,000.00 

The C. L. Lamberton Fund 2,375.00 



$255,036.67 



24 Formed Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 

Between the years 1826 and 1910, the Society published 
fourteen volumes of " Memoirs," containing treatises upon 
various historical subjects, one of which was reprinted ; a 
volume of the "Bulletin," a volume of "Collections," a 
" Historical Map of Pennsylvania," a volume upon " Penn- 
.sylvania and the Federal Constitution," edited by J. B. 
McMaster and Frederick D. Stone, four volumes of Miscel- 
laneous Publications and thirty -four volumes of the Penn- 
sylvania Magazine of History and Biography. 

It is not possible upon an occasion such as the present, to 
do more than to give a simulacrum, a mere shadowy outline 
of the collections. The history of Pennsylvania depends 
not upon what has been retained at the Capital, but upon what 
has been gathered within these walls. In the present age 
of the world we are prone to regard every thing from the 
pecuniary point of view ; and when our journals and quasi 
magazines call our attention to a painting of Rembrandt or 
Frantz Hals, that which they tell is the sum that the New 
York or Pittsburg millionaire paid for it. It is a coarse, 
crude, vulgar and inexact way of estimating value ; but we 
are compelled to accept the conventions of life or to be 
uncomprehended. These Collections are estimated to be 
worth not less than $2,500,000. They include eighty thou- 
sand bound books, two hundred thousand pamphlets and 
five thousand eight hundred and twenty-four volumes 
of manuscripts. Among the most important sources of 
early information and most difiicult to secure are the early 
newspapers. We have three thousand three hundred and 
twenty-one volumes of newspapers, among which are com- 
plete files of Franklin's Gazette, Bradford's Journal, the 
Pennsylvania Packet, the earliest daily in the United States ; 
Poulson's Advertiser, and the Aurora, and partial files ot 
the American Weekly Mercury, Sower's Geschicht Schrei- 
ber, the Staatsbote, Parker's New York Gazette and Post- 
boy, Rivington's New York Gazette and the Royal Ameri- 
can Gazette — all of them published in the 18th Century 
and representing the dawn of American journalism. 



Forraal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 25 

In one room alone are seven thousand eight hundred and 
eight volumes and thirteen hundred and four broadsides 
called '* imprints," in other words American Incunabula, 
showing what the people read and who did the publishing, 
down to 1825. Nowhere else in the world can be found so 
much from the presses of William Bradford, the first printer 
in the Middle Colonies, and the other Bradfords who suc- 
ceeded him; of Franklin, the job printer; of Sower, who 
published the Bible three times and the Testament seven 
times in Germantown, of Ephrata; and of Robert Bell, who 
introduced literature into America by printing the works 
of Blackstone, Milton, and many more. "We have three 
hundred and forty-eight of the publications of Franklin, one 
hundred and ninety-three of those ot Sower, seventy-one 
of those of Bell and three hundred and four of those 
of the Bradfords. Of the Poor Richard Almanacs we 
have the first, and only lack ten, between 1733 and 
1801, being unrivalled. Of exceptional importance 
among the issues of the press of William Bradford, 
the first printer, are Atkins' Pennsylvania Almanac, the 
earliest pul)lication, one of only two known copies, and 
his "Proposal for the printing of a large Bible" in 1688, 
which is unique. Of the controversial pamphlets beginning 
in 1692, the outcome of the struggle of the Friends with 
George Keith which led to the establishment of the Prot- 
estant Episcopal Church in the Colony, we have nearly all. 

Among the Collections of special import, some of them 
of momentous consequence, are the Charlemagne Tower 
Colonial Laws, containing more of the Laws of that period 
relating to Pennsylvania than can be found in Harrisburg, 
and more of those relating to Massachusetts than can be 
found in Boston ; the Cassel books in the German tongue ; 
William S. Baker's Washingtoniana ; the Kennedy draw- 
ings of ancient houses in Philadelphia; andtheDreer auto- 
graphs, in one hundred and ninety-seven volumes, which 
cost Mr. Dreer over $100,000.00. The original charter of 
Philadelphia, in 1691, lies alongside of the title deeds to the 



26 Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 



Province in the fireproof. The portraits of William Penn, 
of Franklin by Charles Willson Peale, and of Washington 
by Gilbert Stuart, hang together upon the walls. A clock 
made by David Rittenhouse, that Pennsylvania genius who 
measured the distance of the sun and discovered the 
atmosphere of Venus, designates the time while I attempt 
a resume of the manuscripts, making reference only to the 
name of the family or personage who once owned them 
and the number of the volumes : 



Bradford .... 
Bartrain .... 
James Buc lianaii 

Barton 

Commodore Banu'v 

Biddle ' 

Booue 

Boudinot .... 

Bryan 

Cadwalader . . . 

Coryell 

Clement .... 
Jay Cooke . . . 
Salmon P. Chaste . . 
Hiester — Clynier 

Conarroc 

Drinker 

Dickinson ... 
Du Ponceau ... 

Dupuy 

Etting 

Franklin . . . , 
Gnitz ... . . 
Galloway . . . . 

Gibson 

Hamilton . . . . 
Humphreys . . . . 
Morris — Holliiigs- 

worth 

Thos. Hutcliin.s . . 
Wm. Henry . . . 
John Heckt'welder . 

Hand 

Hopkinson . . . . 

Irvine 

Logan 

Lawrence 



35 Volumes 
10 
160 

4 

2 

2 
12 

4 

2 

8 

6 

50 

136 

34 

3 
14 
95 

3 
21 

4 

1 13 

11 

104 

1 



400 

2 

11 

5 

8 

1 

15 

67 

4 



Lafayette 2 Volumes 

Ellis Lewis .... 1 

John Langdon 3 " 

Lightfoot 6 " 

Henry Laurens . . 3 " 

Robert Morris ... 10 " 

McKean 6 " 

McPherson .... 4 " 

Muhlenberg .... 1 " 

Norris 70 " 

Penn 444 " 

Pemberton— Clifford 110 

Joel R. Poinsett . . 24 " 

Peters 20 " 

Parsons 3 " 

Pastoriua 5 " 

Peale 6 

Pleasants 2 " 

Potts ...••• 2 " 

Rawle 14 " 

Shippen 60 " 

Sargent 4 " 

Sergeant 6 " 

Stewardson .... 7 " 

Stille 12 

Strettell 7 " 

Taylor 17 " 

Charles Thomson .2 " 

Tilghman .... 32 

Tousard 1 " 

James Wilson ... 11 " 

Anthony Wayne . . 60 " 

Willcox 12 

Wharton 38 " 

Conrad Weiaer . . 8 " 

West 4 " 

Yeatea 50 " 



Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 27 

Of early assessment books of Philadelphia County, giving 
the names of the landowners, there are five hundred and 
fifty-two volumes; of the accounts of the early forges and 
furnaces, showing the beginnings of that great industry so 
important for Pennsylvania, there are forty volumes; and of 
Papers of the Revolution, including orderly books at Valley 
Forge and elsewhere, diaries and journals, there are seven 
hundred and nineteen volumes. We have the original 
manuscripts of Proud's History of Pennsylvania, Smith's 
History of Pennsylvania, Watson's Annals of Philadel- 
phia, Christopher Marshall's Diary, and Pastorius' Laws of 
Germantown. These facts, incomplete as they are, serve 
to indicate the w^ealth of the Society in original papers. 
When the future Mommsen, Gibbon or Grote of America 
writes the story of the nation from the great centre of the 
continent where it originated and whence came the influ- 
ences which created it, he will here find the sources of his 
information. This Society through nearly nine decades of 
earnest labors has fixed the foundations upon which the 
structure will rest. These eflforts resulting in such accom- 
plishment have been at once an example and an incentive. 
Around the Society, as about the knees of a parent, have 
gathered other organizations with somewhat kindred aims, 
and beneath its roof come for shelter the Genealogical 
Society of Pennsylvania, The Numismatic and Antiqua- 
rian Society, the Pennsylvania History Club, the Military 
Order of the Loyal Legion, the Colonial Dames, the Penn- 
sylvania Society of Sons of the Revolution, the Daughters 
of the American Revolution, and the Society of Colonial 
Wars. 

The active members, who numbered fifty-six in 1845, 
nine hundred and thirty-three in 1872, and twelve hundred 
and sixty-five in 1884, are now, inclusive of life members and 
annual subscribers, two thousand two hundred and fifty-one. 

The past of the Society, because of the earnestness, activ- 
ity and self-sacrifice of those who have guided its fortunes, 
has been replete with achievement. If the thought of 



28 Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 

Anatole France be correct (and no historian ought to gain- 
say it) : " Le passe c'est la seule realite humaine. Tout ce 
qui est est passe." Should, however, we be imbued with a 
measure of the spirit which has animated our predecessors, 
the future beckons to us with promise. What it may have 
in store for us we can not know, but on this occasion and 
in this hall we may repeat : " La porte de notre demeure 
. ouvre sur I'infini." 

Up to the present time we have not wearied in following 
the injunctions : " Remember the days of old, consider the 
years of many generations : ask thy father, and he will 
shew thee ; thy elders, and they will tell thee" (Deuteron- 
omy xxxii : 7). Those of us upon whom the responsibility 
now rests may safely entertain the comfortable assurance 
that wisdom will not die with the present generation and 
that those who come along close upon our heels in the paths 
we have trodden will carry into further activities and wider 
fields of usefulness The Historical Society of Pennsylvania. 

When he had finished his address, the President invited 
all present to repair to the Hall of Governors, to partake 
of a collation being served. 

Messages of congratulations were received from the fol- 
lowing learned societies and institutions abroad and in this 
country, in response to the invitation of the Historical 
Society to attend the opening ceremonies: 

Academie Royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux Arts de Bel- 

gique, Brussels. 
American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Mass. 
Andover Tlieological Seminary, Andover, Mass. 
Allegheny College, Meadville, Pa. 
Athenaeum of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa. 
American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, Pa. 
Apprentices' Library, Philadelphia, Pa. 
Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, Pa. 

British Museum, London. 

Bibliotheque Imperiale Publique, St. Petersburg. 

Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Me. 

Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, Pa. 



Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 29 

Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, Brooklyn, N. Y. 

Beloit College, Beloit, Wis. 

Buffalo Historical Society, Buffalo, N. Y. 

Berkeley Divinity School, Middletown, Conn. 

Boston Public Library, Boston, Mass. 

Camden Free Public Library, Camden, N. J. 
Coast Artillery School, Fortress Monroe, Va. 
Catholic University of America, Washington, D. C. 
Chicago Historical Society, Chicago, 111. 
Connecticut State Library, Hartford, Conn. 
Carnegie Library, Pittsburgh, Pa. 
Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford, Conn. 
Cambria Free Library, Johnstown, Pa. 
Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y. 
Charleston Library Society, Charleston, S. C. 
Carnegie Library, Syracuse, N. Y. 
Carnegie Public Library, Bradford, Pa. 
Carpenters' Company, Philadelphia, Pa. 
Columbia University, New York City, N. Y. 
Carnegie Free Library, Allegheny, Pa. 
Crozer Theological Seminary, Chester, Pa. 
College of Physicians, Philadelphia, Pa. 
Cleveland Public Library, Cleveland, Ohio. 

Dedham Historical Society, Dedham, Ma-ss. 
Danbury Library, Danbury, Conn. 
Denver Public Library, Denver, Col. 
Diocesan Library, Philadelphia, Pa. 
Delaware Co. Institute of Science, Media, Pa. 
Delaware College, Newark, Del. 
Drexel Institute, Philadelphia, Pa. 

Essex Institute, Salem, Mass. 
Easton Public Library, Easton, Pa. 
Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore, Md. 
Elyria Library, Elyria, Ohio. 
Erie Public Library, Erie, Pa. 
Episcopal Academy, Philadelphia, Pa. 

Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, Vt. 
Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, Pa. 
Friends Free Library, Germantown, Phila. 



30 Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 

Germantown Library Association and Historical Society, Germantown, 

Phila. 
Georgia Stat€ Library, Atlanta, Ga. 
Georgia Historical Society, Savannah, Ga. 
Grand Rapids Public Library, Grand Rapids, Mich. 
George Washington University, AVashington, D. C. 
German Society, Philadelphia, Pa. 
Georgetown University, Washington, D. C. 

Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. 

Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio, Cincinnati, Ohio. 

Hobart College, Geneva, N. Y. 

Historical Society of Dauphin Co., Harrisburg, Pa. 

Historical Society of Delaware, Wilmington, Del. 

Haverford College, Haverford, Pa. 

Historical Society of Schuylkill Co., Pottsville, Pa. 

Iowa State Historical Society, Iowa City, Iowa. 

Indiana State Library, Indianapolis, Ind. 

Instituto Historico e Geographico, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 

James Prendergast Free Library, Jamestown, N. Y. 
John Crerar Library, Chicago, 111. 

Konigliche Offentliche Bibliothek, Dresden. 

Koniglich Bayerisclie Akademie der Wisaenschaften, Munich. 

King Library, Andalusia, Pa. 

Kenyon College, Gambler, Ohio. 

Kittochtinny Historical Society, Chambersburg, Pa. 

Library of Congress, Washington, D. C. 

Lehigh University, South Bethlehem, Pa. 

Lehigh County Historical Society, Allentown, Pa. 

Lutheran Theological Seminary, Mount Airy, Philadelphia. 

Linden Hall Seminary, Lititz, Pa. 

Lebanon County Historical Society, Lebanon, Pa. 

Lafayette College, Easton, Pa. 

Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vt. 
Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minn. 
Maine Historical Society, Portland, Me. 
Massachusetts State Library, Boston, Mass. 
Moravian Seminary, Bethlehem, Pa. 
Michigan State Library, Lansing, Mich. 



Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 31 

Meadville Theological School, Meadville, Pa. 

Maine State Library, Augusta, Me. 

Marietta College, Marietta, Ohio. 

Missouri State Library, Jefferson City, Mo. 

Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. 

Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore, Md, 

Montgomery County Historical Society, Norristown, Pa. 

Moravian Historical Society, Nazareth, Pa. 

Nazareth Hall Military Academy, Nazareth, Pa. 

New York Historical Society, New York City. 

New Jersey Historical Society, Newark, N. J. 

North Dakota State Library, Bismarck, N. D. 

Nebraska State Historical Society, Lincoln, Neb. 

Newberry Library, Chicago, 111. 

New York Public Library, New York City. 

New Jersey State Library, Trenton, N. J. 

New York Society Library, New York City. 

Northwestern University, Chicago, 111. 

Newark Free Public Library, Newark, N. J. 

Numismatic & Antiquarian Society, Philadelphia. 

New York Genealogical & Biographical Society, New York City. 

Oregon State Library, Salem, Oregon. 
Otterbein University, Westerville, Ohio. 
Oneida Historical Society, Utica, N. J. 
Ohio University, Athens, Ohio. 

Providence Athenaeum, Providence, R. I. 
Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, Philadelphia. 
Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, N, Y. 
Princeton University, Princeton, N. J. 
Philadelphia City Institute, Philadelphia. 
Pennsylvania State College, State College, Pa. 
Pedagogical Library, Philadelphia. 
Philadelphia Normal School, Philadelphia. 

Rhode Island Historical Society, Providence, R. I. 

Scandanavian American Club, Philadelphia. 
State Normal School, Bloomsburg, Pa. 
St. Charles Seminary, Overbrook, Pa. 
Stevens' Institute of Technology, Hoboken, N. J. 



32 Forrtud Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 

Salem Academy and College, Winston-Salem, N. C. 
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. 
St. Louis Public Library, St. Louis, Mo. 
State Normal School, West Chester, Pa. 

Tufts College, Tufts College, Mass. 
Texas Library Association, Austin, Texas. 
Towanda Public Library, Towanda, Pa. 
Trenton Free Public Library, Trenton, N. J. 

University of Illinois, Urbana, 111. 
Union Theological Seminary, New York City. 
University of North Dakota, University, N. D. 
University of Chicago, Chicago, 111. 
U. S. Military Academy, West Point, N. Y. 
U. S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md. 
Union University, Schenectady, N. Y. 
University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyo. 
University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa. 
University of Rochester, Rochester, N. Y. 
University of Washington, Seattle, Wash. 
University of Texas, Austin, Texas. 
Univei-sity of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn. 
University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. 
University of Vermont, Burlington, Vt. 
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, N. C. 
University of Maine, Orono, INIaine. 

Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, N. Y. 
Virginia Historical Society, Richmond, Va. 
Vermont Historical Society, Montpelier, Vt. 
Virginia State Library, Richmond, Va. 

Wilmington Institute Free Library, Wilmington, Del. 
Wagner Free Institute of Science, Philadelphia. 
Wisconsin State Historical Society, Madison, Wis. 
Williams College, Williamstown, Mass. 
Worcester Society of Antiquity, Worcester, Mass. 
West Virginia State Library, Charlestown, W. Va. 
Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Va. 
William Penu High School for Girls, Philadelphia. 

Yale University, New Haven, Conn. 



Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 33 



The Following is a List of the Subscribers to the Building and 
Equipment Fund of the Historical Society. 



George W. Acklin 
W. Charles Alderson 
Edmund Allen 
William N, Allen 
Mrs. John Ashhurst, Jr. 
W^ W. Atterbury 
Thomas P. Bacon 
George F. Baer 
Charles W. Bailey 
Joshua L. Baily 
Thomas Willing Balch 
Frank Battles 
T. Broom Belfield 
Edward J. Bell 
Benjamin Bertolet 
Hon. Craig Biddle 
H. W. Biddle 
William F. Biddle 
Miss Mary Blakiston 
The Misses Blanchard 
Amos Bonsall 
Hunter Brooke 
John A. Brown, Jr. 
John Douglass Brown 
Miss Martha M. Brown 
John C. Browne 
Mrs. Edward S. Buckley 
George Burnham, Jr. 
Charles M. Burns 
Charles C. Butterworth 
John Cadwalader 
Richard M. Cadwalader 
Hon. Hampton L. Carson 
R. N. Carson 
Alexander J. Cassatt 
Mrs. Alexander J. Cassatt 
S. Castner, Jr. 
Charles Chauncey 



B. Frank Clapp 
James Clarency 
George H. Cliff 
Edward Coles 

C. Howard Colket 

Colonial Society of Pennsylvania 

Mrs. George M. Conarroe 

John H. Converse 

John L. Cox 

Eckley B. Coxe, Jr. 

Neville B. Craig 

Miss Anne H. Cresson 

Samuel A. Crozer 

Roland G. Curtin, M.D. 

O'Hara Darlington 

Henry L. Davis 

Howard Deacon 

Mrs. George J. DeArmond 

Bernard L. Douredoure 

George W. C. Drexel 

Edward T. Dugdale 

H. A. du Pont 

A. T. Freedley 

William F. Gable 

John B.Garrett 

Sylvester Garrett 

W. H. Gaw 

Henry Gawthrop 

Joseph M. Gazzara 

Dr. Thomas A. Gill, U.S.N. 

Benjamin Githens 

William Goodrich 

Simon Gratz 

Stephen Greene 

Clement A. Griscom 

Charles F. Gummey 

Mrs. Charles Hacker 

Francis C. Haines 



34 Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 



William A. Haines 
Edward H. Hance 
J. Campbell Harris 
Mrs. John Harrison 
Thomas S. Harrigon 
Frank Haseltine 
Henry R. Hatfield 
James Hay 
James C. Haydon 
Samuel Hazard 
John C. Heckman 
Charles Heebner 
William E. Helme 
Frederick Hemsley 
C. E. Henderson 
William P. Henszey 
Charles S. Hinchman 
Charles E. Hires 
James F. Hope 
Oliver Hopkinson 
William Macpherson Hornor 
Daniel W. Howard 
Emlen Hutchinson 
Francis M. Hutchinson 
John P. Hutchinson 
Mahlon Hutchinson 
Addison Hutton 
Charles E. Ingersoll 
Nathaniel E. Janney 
Henry S. Jeanes 
John Story Jenks 
William H. Jenks 
R. Winder Johnson 
Washington Jones 
William H. Jordan 
William W. Justice 
William H. Lambert 
Rev. George A. Latimer 
Henry C. Lea 
J. Granville Leach 
Arthur N. Leeds 
Henry L. Levick 
Lewis J. Levick 
Howard W. Lewis 



John F. Lewis 

Mrs. John F. Lewis 

Malcolm Lloyd, Jr. 

William S. Lloyd 

John P. Logan 

John C. Lowry 

Dr. James MacAlister 

James McCrea 

Clayton McElroy 

John B. McMaster 

Horace Magee 

E. R. Mann 

W, L. Margerum 

John Ross Martin, U.S.N. 

Richard S. Mason 

William M. Meigs 

William Mellor 

Jesse H. Michener 

J. H. Michener 

Nathan Middleton 

Mrs. James Mifflin 

Mrs. William Mifflin 

Caleb J. Milne 

Thomas M. Montgomery 

Clarence B. Moore 

Richard Moore 

Elliston P. Morris 

Israel Morris 

Israel W. Morris 

William J. Morris 

Miss Helen K. Morton 

Joseph M. Myers 

John P. Nicholson 

Charles Norris 

Charles S. Ogden 

William Overington, Jr. 

S. Davis Page 

Dr. Gilbert L. Parker 

T. H. Hoge Patterson 

William A. Patton 

Dr. James Paul 

Galusha Penuypacker U. S. A. 

Hon. Samuel W. Pennypacker 

Charles P. Perkins 



Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 35 



T. Morris Perot, Jr. 

Arthur Peterson 

Hon. H. K. Porter 

E. T. Postlethwaite 

Thomas Potter, Jr. 

William F. Potter 

Frederick Perry Powers 

Dundas T. Pratt 

Charles E. Pugh 

Earl B. Putnam 

James Rawle 

William Brooke Rawle 

Mrs. William Brooke Rawle 

Samuel Rea 

John J. Read, U. S. N. 

I. Layton Register 

Joseph P. Remington 

Benjamin W. Richards 

H. M. M. Richards 

Louia Richards 

M. Riebenack 

Craig D. Ritchie 

Miss Elizabeth C. Roberts 

Miss Frances A. Roberts 

Edward Robins 

Anthony W. Robinson 

H. M. Rolin 

J. Martin Rommel 

J. G. Rosengarten 

Louis B. Runk 

Julius F. Sachse 

Winthrop Sargent 

Dr. Charles Schaflfer 

Abraham S. Schropp 

James A. Searight 

James T. Shinn 

Charles F. Shoener 

Charles A. Sims 

Miss Mary E. Sinnott 

A. Lewis Smith 

Benjamin H. Smith 

Charles Smith 

C. Morton Smith 



Horace E. Smith 

Mrs. W. Hinckle Smith 

William Alexander Smith 

Marriott C. Smyth 

Thomas W. Sparks 

George W. Spiese 

A. M. Stackhouse 

Henry M. Steel 

Miss Katharine S. Steen 

William C. Stevenson, Jr. 

Hon. Mayer Sulzberger 

William W. Supplee 

James M. Swank 

William G. Thomas 

Hon. M. Hampton Todd 

Hon. Charlemagne Tower 

Frank E. Townsend 

Alexander Van Renssaelaer 

Dr. Charles Harrod Vinton 

T. Chester Walbridge 

George W. Warner 

E. C. Weaver 

Edmund Webster 

Edward Welles 

Mrs. Mary D. Wentz 

S. P. Wetherill 

William H. Wetherill 

Francis R. Wharton 

Joseph Willcox 

David E. Williams 

Ellis D. Williams 

Miss Mary C. Williams 

Miss Sarah D. Williams 

James H. Windrim 

Asa S. Wing 

James D. Winsor 

Mrs. 0. J. Wister 

George Wood 

Howard Wood 

R. Francis Wood 

Stuart Wood 

Frank H. Wyeth 

T. Ellwood Zell 



36 Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 

The two days' ceremonies in commemoration of the formal 
opening of the new building of the Society were fittingly 
closed on Thursday evening, April 7, by a dinner. The 
great hall of the Society had been transformed into a ban- 
queting hall. From the balcony, which surrounds the hall, 
were hung the handsome silk flags and banners of the 
Pennsylvania Society Sons of the Revolution and the Society 
of Colonial Wars, and the decorations of flowers, plants, 
and palms were elaborate. At the tables were seated some 
of the notable men of the country, especially those who 
have been prominent in writing American history. The 
Hon. Samuel Whitaker Pennypacker, President ot the 
Society, presided, and Vice-President, Hon. Charlemagne 
Tower, acted as Toastmaster. 

The " menu" having been disposed of. President Penny- 
packer read the following letters from the Earl of Ranfurly 
and Lieut. Colonel Dugald Stuart, descendants ot the 
Founder of Pennsylvania; Hon. P. C. Knox, Secretary oi 
State; Hon. Franklin Mac Veagh, Secretary of the Treasury; 
Hon. Edwin S. Stuart, Governor of the Commonwealth ot 
Pennsylvania ; Rt. Hon. Sir George Otto Trevelyan, an 
honorary member of the Society ; the Librarian of the British 
Museum ; and a telegram from Samuel V. Hofltman, Esq., 
President of the New York Historical Society. 

43 Bryanston Square W., 15th March, 1910. 
Dear Sir, 

I much regret that I cannot take part in the opening ot 
the new premises of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania 
on the 6th April, or of attending the dinner on the follow- 
ing day. I shall hope on my next visit to the States to have 
the pleasure of seeing the building. 

With many thanks for your kind invitation, 

Believe me. 

Yours very faithfully, 

Ranfurly. 
S. W. Pennypacker, 

President. 



Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 37 

dowestown, 

Navan, 

Co. Meath, March 16, 1910. 
Dear Sir, 

I beg to thank you for your letter of 3rd and am much 
obliged to you and the Society for your cordial invitation 
to be present at the formal opening of the new Hall on 
April 6th-7th, which, however, I regret to say I am unable 
to accept. 

I remain 

Yours faithfully, 

DuGALD Stuart. 
8. "W. Pennypacker, 

President. 



Department of State, 

Washington, March 9, 1910. 
Dear Sir, 

I beg to thank the Historical Society of Pennsylvania for 
the honor of its invitation to participate as a guest and to 
make an address at the dinner on the seventh of April, 
which I appreciate very much. I regret to say, however, 
that my work here is so exacting that I have been com- 
pelled to decline to make any out of town engagements to 
speak this winter or spring, and I could not now with pro- 
priety make an exception, though I should be very glad to 
comply with any wish of the Society if it were possible for 
me to do so. 

Very sincerely yours, 

P. C. Knox. 
Hon. W. S. Pennypacker 

President. 

The Secretary of the Treasury, 

Washington, March 10, 1910. 
Dear Governor, 

It would give me more pleasure than I could tell you to 
accept your invitation to attend the dinner of the Historical 



88 Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 

Society of Pennsylvania on April 7th if I were not just 
getting over a throat attack which the doctor says I must 
still regard enough to avoid public dinners for probably six 
weeks. 

I consider it most kind in you to have asked me. Now 
that I am so near to Pennsylvania my early associations 
most pleasantly revive themselves. 

Very sincerely yours, 

Franklin MacVeagh. 

Hon. S. W. Pennypacker, 

President. 



Commonwealth of Pennsylvania 

Executive Chamber, 

Harrisburg, March 22, 1910. 
My Dear Sir, 

I have pleasure in acknowledging the receipt of your 
kind communication of the 8th instant, enclosing an invita- 
tion to attend the dinner to be given at the close of the 
ceremonies incident to the opening of the new hall of the 
Historical Society of Pennsylvania, on April 7th, 1910, and 
have delayed reply in the hope of being able to arrange my 
engagements so as to accept, but regret to advise you that 
an engagement made some time ago, to be in Warren, 
Pennsylvania, on the evening of April 6th, will prevent 
me from returning to Philadelphia in time to attend the 
dinner. 

Will you please accept for yourself and express to your 
associates and the members of the Historical Society my 
appreciation of the courtesy, and my deep regret at not 
being able to be present. 

With assurances of personal regard, I remain 

Yours sincerely, 

Edwin S, Stuart. 

Hon. S. W. Pennypacker, 

President. 



Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 39 

8, Grosvenor Crescent, S. W. 

London, March 14, 1910. 
Dear Sir, 

I am greatly honoured by the invitation of the 
Historical Society of Pennsylvania. I cannot imagine any- 
thing that would interest me more than to be present, on 
such an occasion, in a community which, so far as my ex- 
perience goes, has a vivid and intelligent knowledge of its 
own great past at least equal to that of any community in 
modern days. I am likewise eager to see the scenes of 
those great political and military events which have made 
Philadelphia, and its neighborhood on land and water, 
famous in history. But I am too old, and too occupied in 
finishing up the book which is the task and delight of my 
life, and indeed at the present time I am not well enough, 
for the voyage. I regret that this must be my answer to a 
compliment which I highly value. 

I take this opportunity of acknowledging the generous 
assistance in the prosecution of my literary work which I 
have received from public institutions, and private individ- 
uals, in your State and City. 
I remain 

Yours very faithfully, 

George Otto Trevelyan. 

S. W. Pbnnypacker, Esq. 



British Museum, 
London, W. C, March 29th, 1910. 

The Director and Principal Librarian of the British 
Museum begs to thank the President and Council of 
the Historical Society of Pennsylvania for the courtesy 
of their invitation to him to attend the opening of the 
new Hall of the Society on April 6th, and regrets that con- 
ditions of time and space make it impossible for him to be 
present. 



40 Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 

Hon. Samuel W. Pennypacker, 

President Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 
I am confined to my bed with a severe cold and my 
doctor refuses to allow me to get up. Please accept the con- 
gratulations of the New York Historical Society and express 
my sincere regrets at my inability to be with you. 

Samuel V. Hoffman. 

TOASTS. 

History, like Charity, begins at Home, 

Professor John Bach McMaster. 

Other Commonwealths beside Pennsylvania, 

Honorable Charles Francis Adams. 

The New York Historical Society, 

Mr. Samuel Verplanck HoflFman. 

A Pennsylvania Historian Abroad, 

Professor Albert Bushnell Hart. 

Pennsylvania's Institution of Learning, 

Dr. Charles Custis Harrison. 

The Susquehanna and its Associations, 

Honorable Marlin E. Olmsted. 

The Picturesque Pennsylvania German, 

Honorable William U. Hensel. 

The President (Hon. Samuel W. Pennypacker). Seventy- 
six years ago, Granville Penn, generous in his favor to 
this Society, presented to it a plain gold ring containing 
some of the hair of William Penn. The council of the 
Historical Society passed a resolution that, on exception- 
ally important occasions, the president of the Society should 
wear that ring. Wearing it upon this occasion, and con- 
gratulating you upon the success of the demonstration ot 
yesterday, and upon this delightful dinner, and upon this 
goodly assembly about your tables, I transfer the control to 
one of your Vice-Presidents, whose father presented to the 
Historical Society one of the most valuable of its collections, 
who has himself written history of importance, who has 
been the minister from this great nation to Austria, to 



Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 41 

Russia, and to Germany, and who has graced and added 
dignity to every position he hag ever held, the Hon. Charle- 
magne Tower. (Applause.) 

The Toastmaster (Hon. Charlemagne Tower) Mr. Presi- 
DBNT AND Qentlbmen : The celebration which has gathered 
you here this evening is the crowning act in the period 
of the foundation and of the progress towards maturity 
of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. It is the com- 
plete fulfilment of the hopes of those patriotic and public- 
spirited citizens of Philadelphia who conceived the idea 
earl 3' in the 19th century of making a collection and main- 
taining the records of documents which related to William 
Penn, to the foundation and development of his Common- 
wealth in the forests of America, and to the history of the 
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Their ambitious desire 
took form at the meeting of a handful of men in the City of 
Philadelphia in the year 1824, at which a resolution was 
adopted, that it is expedient to form a society ** for the pur- 
pose of investigating the history of the state." It was a 
long look ahead from that time until to-day, through the 
struggles of the little eociety, without books, without manu- 
scripts, and without a single object with which to begin a 
historical collection. Through the eighty years of its vicis- 
situdes, which have been so clearly set forth and enumerated 
by the Honorable President of this Society in the admirable 
address which he delivered in this hall yesterday afternoon 
(applause), fnmi these humble beginnings we have come to 
see the Historical Society housed to-day in this beautiful 
building, in which its books and manuscripts, its portraits 
and engravings, and its precious collections, are safely stored 
in spacious apartments, and protected by fireproof walls. 
Many devoted students of history have given aid to the 
Society in the course of its progress, and have lent a helping 
hand towards its ultimate success, Avhose services ought not 
to be forgotten upon an occasion of this kind, and the names 
of several of whom it seems to me should be mentioned to- 



42 Formal Operdng of the New Fireproof Building. 

day : Roberts Vaux, William Rawle, Peter S. Du Ponceau, 
John F. Watson, Joshua Francis Fisher, John Jordan, Jr., 
John William Wallace, Townsend Ward, Brinton Coxe, 
Dr. Charles J. Stille, Frederick D. Stone, Charles R. Hilde- 
burn; and in a later time the Hon. Samuel W. Pennj- 
packer, John Bach McMaster, Dr. John W. Jordan, and 
John Frederic Lewis. The Society to-day affords oppor- 
tunities to hundreds of students who come here to make 
investigations and to seek information. It opens its doors 
to all those who, either by habit of thought, or from a de- 
sire to examine the history of the state and of this country, 
come here as to a fountain from which all may drink. The 
Society is able to off'er hospitality w^ithin its own domain, 
in holding receptions for all of its members, who number 
now something more than 2,000 persons. It would be im- 
possible in the course of an ordinary address to enumerate 
the collections with which the Society to-day is enriched, 
for it is no longer a society in the ordinary sense of the 
word. It has become a great institution, whose influence 
goes out into the world, quite beyond even the boundaries 
of the United States, and it is a mine of wealth for the 
student, the thinker, and the historian. Amongst its ines- 
timable collections of family documents the Society has the 
records of the Penns and the Logans, the original manu- 
scripts of the families of Cadwalader and Pemberton, Tilgh- 
man, Wayne, Morris, Biddle, Norris, Wharton, and many 
others who have helped to make the history of the province 
and of the state. It has here in this building the original 
charter of Philadelphia of 1691, and the title deeds to the 
province of Pennsylvania. There are 80,000 bound volumes 
and 200,000 pamphlets and some 5,000 to 6,000 volumes of 
manuscripts. Here are also some thousands of volumes of 
newspapers ; of Franklin's Gazette, an entire collection ; 
Bradford's Journal, and the Pennsylvania Packet, with 
many others of the 18th century in the German and the 
English tongue. There are 400 publications from the office 
of Franklin alone, many of Bradford's and Sower's, and the 



Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 43 

Laws of the Colonies, the Washingtonia of Wilham S. Baker, 
and the great autograph collection of Ferdinand J. Dreer 
is contained in 198 volumes. The Society has also the 
wampum belt which was given to William Penn at the 
time of his treaty with the Indians, which, after having 
been taken to England and after having remained there 
for one hundred and fifty years, was brought again to 
America and presented by Granville Penn in 1852. This 
relic of itself, it seems to me, in the history of America, 
ought to be classed with the most precious souvenirs of the 
races of the past amongst those collected in the museums 
of New York and of Boston, and of the City of Mexico. 
It is with these resources, and many others, that you have 
come here to-day to mark the success of the Historical 
Society at this time, and to set it upon its career with right 
provision for the future in its dignity and influence in the 
community and in its services to the state. (Applause.) 

The Toastmaster. I have the honor to present to you 
one of our foremost historians and scholars, a professor of 
the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. John Bach McMaster. 

Dr. McMaster. Mr. President, Mr. Toastmaster, and 
Gentlemen of the Society : That gracious and altogether 
trustworthy historian of the adventures of Alice in Wonder- 
land relates that when she was rescued from the pool of tears 
into which she had fallen, and looked around for something 
wherewith to dry herself, finding nothing, the dodo remarked 
that the driest thing he knew of was history, and proceeded 
to read passages from the work of a standard British author. 
I suppose it was due to this exceedingly dry, and therefore 
highly inflammable character of history and its ingredients, 
that this Society determined some time ago to house its col- 
lections in a fireproof building, a determination which has 
given us this structure and has brought about this occasion, 
which can, unhappily, never be historical because it is not 
dry ; but fine as our building is, our new home, it is no more 



44 Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 

than befits the rich collections made possible by the liberal- 
ity and public spirit of members, not a few of whom have 
gone before us. To them we owe the collection and hous- 
ing here of the raw material of Pennsylvania history. Our 
toast reminds us that history, like charity, begins at home, 
and surely there is no place where the historian at 
present is more needed than just here at home. (Applause.) 
Every Pennsylvanian who takes any interest in the doings or 
the undoings of the men of the past time is far more famil- 
iar with what has taken place in the nation at large than 
he is with what has taken place in his native commonwealth. 
It is the history of the United States, rather than the his- 
tory of the individual states, that has occupied the attention 
of our writers, and perhaps it could not have been other- 
wise. It would not be possible for any one individual who 
intended to use the material, to bring together in a lifetime 
the vast mass of manuscript, pamphlets, reports, journals, 
newspapers, and books, that great array of material garnered 
from ten thousand sources by this Society, and at the same 
time make use of it as a writer. Time, and a great deal of 
time, was necessary to collect it, but it has been collected and 
is only waiting now the coming of the master hand. His 
task will be no task merely of taking for profit. It cannot 
be properly done by any subscription publication. It wnll 
not be done by any collaboration of writers. It will not be 
done by any man who turns from other tasks to take it up 
in moments of leisure. It will be done by some one who 
comes to it trained for his work, and takes it up from sheer 
love of the work, and, without regard to time or profit, pur- 
sues it to the end ; and what a story it will be when it is 
done. The more the last century goes into the past the 
more distinctly does it appear that, after all, the distinguish- 
ing event, the really great event in it, is the rise, growth, 
and development of our country. Striking things, startling 
things never to be forgotten were done in every land, but 
no such thing as was done here when in the full light of 
histor}' and civilization a new nation was literally built up. 



Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 45 

(Applause.) A little string of half peopled, half impover- 
ished, more or less insignificant commonwealths, threw oft 
their allegiance and conquered their independence, organ- 
ized, and started out to be a nation. In a hundred years 
their population had increased more than twenty fold. 
They had overrun the best part of a great continent. Thej 
had made substantial and lasting contributi(Hi8 to the pros- 
perity and happiness and lasting benefit of mankind. They 
have shown so distinctly the wisdom of popular govern- 
ment under a written constitution, that their example was 
followed all around the world. What part has Pennsyl- 
vania had in that nation building, and in that astonishing 
progress and development ? That is the task which remains 
to be told, not the history of Pennsylv^ania, but the history 
of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. When she made 
her first constitution there were not on her soil 400,000 peo- 
ple. Her resources were unknown or undeveloped. What 
they are to-day, what has been done, and what is her condi- 
tion to-day needs no description, but the unfolding of that 
story from the primitive commonwealth of 1776 to the com- 
monwealth as she stands to-day, is the inviting task which 
lies before any one who will take it up, and the material for 
it is around us to-night. When that task is done the histo- 
rian will have told some things which he would perhaps 
prefer to have left untold, but the worst that can be said of 
her can be said boldly and outright, and will be so overlaid 
by the astonishing account of her progress, and of the good 
things which she has done, often in the van, never in the 
rear, always advancing with a wise conservation, always ani- 
mated by an honest spirit of humanitarianism, that when 
that story is told the picture which will be left will be one 
of which no son of Pennsylvania need be at all ashamed. 
(Applause.) 

The Toastmaster. Gentlemen : We are honored by the 
presence of a gentleman whose name and whose services to 
the country as a soldier and a statesman and a loyal Ameri- 



46 Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 

can citizen are well known to you all, who has come here 
from Massachusetts to speak to you to-night upon the sub- 
ject of other Commonwealths besides Pennsylvania. I take 
great pleasure in presenting to you Honorable Charles 
Francis Adams, President of the Massachusetts Historical 
Society. (Applause.) 

Hon. Charles Francis Adams. Mr. President and Gentle- 
men OF THE Historical Society of Pennsylvania : I stand 
before you this evening, and, in what I have to say, I 
propose to violate every known rule of such occasions. On 
such occasions it is customary I know to do three things. 
One is to laud the past, another is to laud the present, and 
the third is to say something off-hand, as it were, and I pro- 
pose to violate every one of those rules. I propose to iind 
fault with the past, I propose to find fault with the present, 
and I propose to read you something of a written speech. 

In the first place I stand here as the president of the 
Massachusetts Historical Society, and let me say that the 
Massachusetts Historical Society (and I say it without lau. 
dation, I say it simply as a fact) is, I believe (and I have 
looked into the matter with some care), not only the oldest 
historical society on this continent, but it is the oldest purely 
historical society in the world. (Applause.) That more 
than forty years ago, fifty years ago, as was stated by our 
president whom I have succeeded, Hon. Robert C. Win- 
throp, whom you all know, and I looked into the matter, 
and I then found that the statement that he made was true, 
that the Massachusetts Society was not only the oldest his- 
torical society on this continent but it was the oldest purely 
historical society in the world. But when I looked into 
that fact further, the one thing that impressed me was the 
fact that the Massachusetts Society, which was organized in 
the year 1790, should have been organized fifty years before, 
should have been organized one hundred and twenty years 
before, in the days of Cotton Mather and those who were 
in possession of the first records relating to Massachusetts. 



Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 47 

Meanwhile what had occurred ? I will saj of our ancestors 
that they were utterly unequal to the occasion. So far from 
preserving as they should have preserved the records of the 
past, they neglected them in a manner which was simply 
shameful. Take two of the records, and we have two 
records in Massachusetts w^hich are unequalled, I believe, in 
the history of the world. If there is any equal to them it 
is found only in the books of the Holy Testament. We had 
there two records of the beginning of this country to which 
we now belong. They had in them records which were 
equivalent to the Genesis of Massachusetts in Bradford's 
manuscript. We had the records which were the Puritan 
Exodus from England, from Great Britain, and what was 
done with them through four generations of the human 
kind ? They were left where the moth and rust did corrupt, 
where thieves broke in and stole. Fortunately, by pure 
good luck they were preserved. One hundred years ago and 
more, Bradford's invaluable manuscript, known as the log- 
book of the Plymouth colonists, disappeared from the face 
of the earth. It was supposed to be lost. There had been 
no receptacle provided in Massachusetts. There had been 
no means of preserving them either from moth or rust. 
They disappeared. Subsequently by pure good luck they 
were found in the library of Lambeth, and Bradford has 
been preserved to us to-day. Winthrop's record was left 
where any day fire could have consumed it, and it remained 
for our own time to establish a building, which was estab- 
lished within twenty years, where it could be preserved from 
the possibility of fire. That was the record, so far as the 
past was concerned, for the preservation of invaluable his- 
torical documents. You here to-day have established at 
last a place where those records of the past are preserved for 
all time. Therefore I say, and I say it without hesitation, 
and I say it without danger of contradiction, that not until 
within the last forty years, within the memory of the present 
generation, has any receptacle been established where those 
records of the past, of which you have here such an invalu- 



48 Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 

able collection, were preserved from any possibility of loss. 
That is the record of the ancestors. It was a record where 
they showed they were not equal to the occasion, and so far, 
therefore, in that respect, from lauding the past I simply 
say to you, and I say it without danger, as I have said, of 
contradiction, the past was thoroughly unequal to the 
occasion. That is gone. To-day we have here, and I look 
up there and I see in proof of it, something which preserves 
for the future this record of the past, which preserves it 
beyond danger of loss. 

Now I propose to turn and show, or endeavor to call 
to you in a very serious spirit, what seems to me the danger 
of the future in this respect, and it behooves us here as rep- 
resentatives of the Historical Society, to consider what is 
our mission in the future as compared with their mission 
in the past. I have referred to the neglect with which our 
ancestors and our fathers with absolute want of care pre- 
served records which were invaluable. Here I come to 
the subject of the evening and I approach it in a very 
serious spirit. I approach it in a spirit which is hardly 
in tune with an after-dinner discussion. We have now to 
consider what the future is to require, and I would suggest 
that we have gone from one extreme to the other, and 
now I shall ask you to bear with me for a few minutes, and 
I will try not to exceed the time allotted to me, in setting 
forth to you in a very serious spirit and on a very serious 
subject, what I consider is the danger of the future in 
these respects, that having had in the past for more than 
two centuries shown an almost unpardonable neglect of the 
records of the past, we now come to what is likely to be the 
other extreme, the excessive care with which we now pre- 
serve whatever, whether valuable or without any value -at 
all, has come down to us from the past. From one extreme, 
as I have said, we have gone to the other. The transforma- 
tion in this respect since undergone is great, so great, 
indeed, that an excess has perhaps resulted, and it is to that 
that I call your attention. 



Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 49 

It was in 1794 that the Massachusetts Historical Society 
was formerlj incorporated by law, and the number of sinn- 
lar societies which have since, and especially of late years, 
come or been brought into existence on both sides of the 
Atlantic, it would be useless as well as beside my purpose 
to try to enumerate. Suffice it to say, their name also is 
legion, and thus we now find ourselves looking at the prob- 
lem from another and wholly different point of view, a point 
of view from which one thing is clear. That thing it be- 
hooves, above all for us who are responsible for this organi- 
zation, to consider well, and to consider it especially on such 
an occasion as this. Clearly as respects such societies as 
historical societies the period of organization is over. In 
numbers they now manifestly tend to run into extremes, and 
in that extreme is peril, for the present tendency undeniably 
is towards the careful and costly preservation of much in 
no way worth preserving, and to the printing of much more, 
which, if measured by its value, had better never be put in 
type at all. As a consequence our museums already are 
overloaded, while the shelves and stacks of our libraries 
wholly fail to supply room for an accumulation which dates 
back a century only. Such an utteraiice as I am about 
to make may, especially on such an occasion as this, jar 
harshly on the ears of some, especially on those of the libra- 
rian class, but none the less I venture a confident opinion 
that the world of scholarship would be in no way appreci- 
ably poorer if one half, and that the larger half, of the 
printed matter now accumulated in our public libraries 
could to-morrow be obliterated and swept clean out of ex- 
istence. (Applause.) The useless accumulation there is 
already terrific. In the future it bids fair to be appalling. 
The same is true also of our museums, artistic, scientific, 
and archfeological. The stolid indifference of the fathers 
has passed in the children into what is little less than a craze 
for indiscriminate preservation. The abuse will, of course, 
work its own remedy, but not the less for that it is incum- 
bent on us, who are responsible for the present policy of 



50 Formal Opening of the Neiv Fireproof Building. 

these organizations, to take note of the tendency that is even 
now calling loudly for reform. For myself I frankly admit 
that I never go into a modern museum or glance, as at this 
moment I do, through the stacks of an up-to-date public 
library, without reverting in my mind to some notes of 
Nathaniel Hawthorne after wearisomely plodding through 
the endless exhibits of the British Museum — that was 
in 1855 : '' Two whole generations of busy collectors and 
accumulators have since lived and labored, and ceasing 
at last to collect, have passed on." The British Museum 
was in 1855, speaking comparatively with the present, in 
its infancy. Hawthorne was himself a man of 57, not a 
gawking tourist but a scholar, an author, in his way a 
student of books as well as of mankind. After wandering 
about at will in the British Museum labyrinths one 
evening, worn out by much sight-seeing, he communed with 
himself; and now I quote again from Hawthorne : " It is a 
hopeless, and to me generally a depressing business, to go 
through an immense multifarious show like this. The fact 
is that the world is accumulating too many materials for 
knowledge. We do not recognize for rubbish what is really 
rubbish, and under this head might be reckoned very many 
things one sees in the British Museum, and as each gen- 
eration leaves its fragments and potsherds behind it, such 
will finally be the desperate conclusion of the learned." He 
then went on to describe, in complete fatigue of body and 
weariness of soul, how he rambled through yet other cham- 
bers, until at last, breaking out in undisguised mental insur- 
rection, he exclaimed, " I wish that the whole past might be 
swept away, and each generation compelled to bury and 
destroy whatever it produced, before being permitted to 
leave the stage. "When we quit a house we are expected to 
make it clean for the next occupant. Why ought we not 
to leave a clean world for the next generation ?" Then 
finally, in a spirit of pure intellectual desperation, he added, 
" We did not see the library of above half a million of vol- 
umes, else I suppose I should have found full occasion to 



Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 51 

wish that burned and buried also. In truth the greater part 
of it is as good as buried, so far as readers are concerned." 
Myself a historical investigator, I in a way heartily endorse 
this forcible, if somewhat exaggerated, suggestion. The 
crying need of to-day is not for fresh and enlarged recep- 
tacles, but, to use a few long words, for a wiser discrimi- 
nation and a more scientific differentiation. Moreover, not 
only do we accumulate too much, but, regardless of cost, 
space, or utility, we duplicate these excessive accumulations. 
In this respect it is, I confidently submit, with institutions 
much as it is with individuals. In the case of individuals 
noble aspirations and not unreasonable standards of vision 
a century since, would now, and most sensibly, by us be 
considered Quixotic. In 1600 Francis Bacon, for instance, 
declared that he took all learning for his province, and from 
that day to this the utterance has, in him, been admired, 
but such a purpose, humanly speaking of possibility then, 
would now, if in a like way announced, be regarded as 
mouthing rhodomontade. What is true in this respect of 
men is true also of organizations like this of oiirs. To 
justify a continued existence they must in future difteren- 
tiate and discard all thoughts of universality, seek operation 
in narrrow and more carefully selected fields, and full 
recognition of this fact and implicit obedience to the law 
which therefrom follows, are, I hold, essential to the con- 
tinued usefulness not only of the society in Massachusetts, 
which I here represent, but its sister societies, of which 
this is one, and of all civil organizations. Each must 
take to heart old Pliny's maxim, and let the cobbler 
stick to his last. In the case of the Historical Society 
of Pennsylvania that field, most fortunately as it seems 
to me, is to a great extent marked out in advance. 
Through gift, purchase, and exchange, your mission 
should be to get into the possession of your organ- 
ization specimens of everything printed in Pennsylvania 
since that settlement, especially journals and newspapers. 
The total of titles so included would, it is reasonable to 



52 Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 

suppose, run into tens of thousands, a very large proportion 
of which you already possess. Slowly to complete the list, 
at whatever sacrifice of time, labor, and money, or through 
exchange of your fac-simile reproductions, should be your 
society's mission as well as pride, and the value of such a 
collection once made complete, it may be truly said could 
not be overestimated. Your collection should be made to 
include every book, periodical, journal or newspaper printed 
within the specific area, all municipal documents and cor- 
porate reports of that area, and every manuscript record 
relating to it, judged worthy of preservation, which diligent 
search could uncover and upon which hands can be laid, 
and to universality and completeness in this chosen field 
other things should be made to give way. Space, money, 
thought, and labor, all should be devoted to the accomplish- 
ment of one well defined result. Miscellaneous literature 
and collections, no matter how tempting, works of art and 
archaeology, no matter how rare, both can and surely will 
find a more appropriate place elsewhere, in libraries and 
museums especially designed for their reception, display, 
and study. 

Looked at from this point of view, the situation needs to 
be grasped in a spirit at once large, comprehensive, and 
catholic, for it is a world-wide problem, directly subject to 
far-reaching modern influences. It is, for instance, always 
affected and sometimes revolutionized by each new develop- 
ment of steam, electricity, or chemistry. Everlastingly sub- 
ject to these influences the librarian and curator will in time 
get so far as to realize that this world of ours is, in respect 
of its accumulations, passing out of the book-worm and 
provincial phase. The period of miscellaneous, accidental 
and duplicate collection is over, and civilization is entering 
on an epoch of collectivism and concentration. Complete- 
ness on the one hand, and elimination of the superfluous on 
the other, are the two great desiderata, but to bring them 
about as results at best will be a very gradual and educa- 
tional process. The jackdaw and magpie spirit, especially 



Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 63 

in librarians and curators, cannot be exercised, and so it 
must be outgrown. Once, however, it is outgrown, and more 
comprehensive and scientific methods matured in place of 
this, the process of accumulation will proceed on a carefully 
matured plan thereafter, persistently adhered to. It is in 
the power, and, in my judgment, should be the ambition 
and the province of the Pennsylvania Historical Society to 
contribute eftectively and appreciably towards bringing this 
great result about. Should it rise to an equality with the 
great occasion, the building you yesterday dedicated will 
prove monumental. It will be a thing to boast no less than 
a repository and a treasure house. (Applause.) 

The Toastmaster. Gentlemen : We are favored by the 
presence of a speaker who is not set down to reply to any 
specific toast, but I am sure we will welcome him all the 
more, and be happy to listen to what he has to say. I have 
the great pleasure of presenting to you, his Honor, the Mayor 
of Philadelphia. 

Mayor Reyburn. Mr. Toastmaster and Members of the 
Pennsylvania Historical Society and its Guests : I had 
no thought that I would be called upon even to say a word. 
I came here to-night to sit down and listen, and I have so 
far, I assure you, enjoyed it beyond measure. I can say 
that this building, which is so well adapted for its purposes, 
is typical of this city, because of its conservativeness, and 
its thoroughness. Our city was well thought out by its 
founder, and has been well cared for. It has been managed 
conservatively. Its citizens are of that character, and all 
that they do, when it comes to be placed before the world 
and judged, is conservatively well done and well thought 
out. (Applause.) In our progress, in our development in 
a commercial sense, we have made great strides, but we 
have also kept pace in our societies, scientific and educa- 
tional, equally with our progress commercially and in 
manufacturing. Oar institutions for the care of the sick 



54 Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 

are second to none. We do not claim that they are 
euperior, but we do claim that they are equal to any that 
exist anywhere, and that our hands are always extended to 
others that are in distress. In other words, Penn, the 
founder of this city, gave to all men freedom of action, 
gave them the right to believe and to think for themselves 
and to teach others to be individual men, and so we have 
developed here this system of government along these lines, 
and whilst we are slow sometimes, yet we are sort of old- 
fashioned and believe in the early principles of our written 
constitution, as Prof. McMaster has so ably said to us. 
We believe in the preservation of the rights of man so long 
as he is within the law, to go where he likes, to do as he 
likes, to work when he likes, and to enjoy himself in a 
reasonable and right minded way. We have been taught 
this, and if there is any one thing that is grounded, I think 
the times that we have gone through within the last month 
point most distinctly to this state of aiiairs, that our people 
are really law abiding, (Applause.) At no time were there 
any considerable numbers of them engaged in breaking the 
law. I know it has been published all over the country that 
crowds became unmanageable, but on the very worst days 
that we had the crowds were finally guided by the civil 
authorities (applause), and prevented by the civil authorities 
from committing any excesses. Very little property was 
destroyed. Hardly a dollar's worth of pro'perty was de- 
stroyed outside of one certain class which seemed to have 
brought about an antagonism. All other property was re- 
spected and the rights of citizens were observed, and, as I 
have said, it is the glory of our city to-day, that the civil 
authorities protected and maintained order, and I am proud 
of it, not that I am the chief magistrate, but that it speaks 
for our city and for its people. (Applause.) Mr. Toast- 
master, I did not expect to speak, and perhaps I have 
apoken longer than I should, but I believe in this very con- 
servatism of our city. I believe it means much to our 
government, to our nation, to its progress and development 



Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 55 

along the lines laid down by the founders of our institu- 
tions, and our city is one of the great examples of the 
greatness and the clearness with which this thing must be 
pursued. We must never forget for one moment the great 
principles that our forefathers laid down for us to pursue, 
and pursue them, allowing no man nor no set of men, 
under whatever guise they may come, to violate them, be- 
cause it means that one set of men are finally to conquer 
and the greatness of the whole and the liberties of the 
people are to be destroyed. Therefore we must consider 
well and observe and believe in these great institutions that 
were installed in our own community, and then I believe 
that our progress and development will go on uninter- 
ruptedl}' for generations to come. (Applause.) 

The Toastmaster. Gentlemen : The next speaker to ad- 
dress you is an eminent scholar, one of our own Pennsyl- 
vanians, who occupies the distinguished position of a pro- 
fessor at Harvard University, who has come here this 
evening to speak to you upon a Pennsylvania historian 
abroad. I have the pleasure of introducing to you Prof. 
Albert Bushnell Hart. 

Professor Hart. Mr. Toastmaster, Mr, President, and 
Gentlemen of the Pennsylvania Historical Society: 
Your Toastmaster, in the kindness of his heart, has ac- 
cepted, I know not from what source, a statement that the 
relator is a Pennsylvanian. If a Pennsylvanian it is because 
the aroma of that praise clings to one a very long time. I 
feel that the claim to be a Pennsylvanian is one so sacred and 
important, and brings with it such privileges, that a man 
must at least produce his census certificate upon such a 
point. It appears that in the census of 1900 there was an 
individual named John Smith, who was asked to fi.ll out 
one of the census blanks. He sat down to it, and with 
very conscientious pains he produced the following docu- 
ment: "Name, John Smith. Born, yes. Sex, hard-shell 



56 Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 

Baptist. Color, somewhat pink. Race, half-mile run. 
Length of residence, 40 feet 8 inches. Business, rotten. 
Conjugal condition, hell. Have you lived here all your 
life? Not yet." (Applause.) 

Certainly you are people who have lived here all your 
lives so far. I am a Pennsylvanian who has been very long 
astray, and yet a Pennsylvanian, for at the western end of 
this great state there is a county through which runs the 
peaceful river Schenango, and on the slope of that river bank 
stood the house where I was born, with a beautiful view of 
the river, saw-mill, grist-mill, and Erie and Pittsburg Canal, 
across which once a week there passed with lightning 
rapidity the great event for the whole countryside, namely, 
the arrival and departure of the steam canal-boat. It was 
a quiet village, but a very happy one, peaceful, prosperous 
and eminently hospitable. Mr. Toastmaster, it is fifty years 
since I left that village, yet it is a pleasure to believe that I 
am a Pennsylvanian still. If a Pennsylvanian, however, it 
comes about through very indirect method. I have been 
in a quandary of late to know precisely what state I might 
claim, for I was born in Pennsylvania, brought up in Ohio, 
had part of my education in foreign lands, am a citizen of 
Massachusetts, own property in New Hampshire, and to- 
night have returned to my original state and my original 
allegiance. To be a Pennsylvanian carries with it great 
responsibilities. A Pennsj'lvanian is born, not made, and I 
feel, when the compliment is paid to me of associating me 
with this state, like a little girl who was called upon in 
school to correct some English sentences, both fur sense 
and for grammar. The two sentences were " She done it," 
and " The hen has four legs." The sentences were cor- 
rected as follows : " The hen has four legs. She did not 
done it. God done it." 

Prof. McMaster has spoken, with his accustomed grace 
and eloquence, of the service which this commonwealth has 
rendered to the nation and to mankind. He might well 
have enlarged upon this topic, as I should be glad to do 



Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 57 

were there the oi»portunity for it. Pennsylvania has fur- 
nished the United States with many models. The first 
community in America in which a written constitution was 
formed with the provision for self-amendment; the first 
community in America to provide for universal sufirage, as 
was done in the election of delegates to the Convention of 
1776; a community which in many respects during the 
Colonial period was more democratic than any of those 
New England states which are so proud of their democracy. 
Not only has the State of Pennsylvania suggested to other 
parts of the country forms of government directly and indi- 
rectly, but the City of Philadelphia has become a light 
known throughout all the world, a real city, one of the first, 
though not the first, to receive a city charter; after the 
Revolution for Bome time the first city in the Union, and 
always a vigorous, energetic and pushing city. We Penn- 
sylvanians laugh in our sleeves at the gibes of our neighbors 
about the slowness of Philadelphia. I never come to this 
city, or pass through it, without a renewed sense of the 
immense number of difiicult things that are being done 
here (applause), the hard and solid work of every kind 
that is performed by the City of Philadelphia. Philadelphia 
has long been a model to other parts of the world. For 
instance, the first Raines Law Hotels appear to have been 
created within a very few months after the foundation of 
the city, inasmuch as it was enacted that a good meal could 
be had for sixpence, and no one was allowed to drink at a 
public house unless he was a lodger ; a singular fact, that 
more than two centuries ago the City of Philadelphia should 
have hit upon a device for reducing the use of intoxicating 
liquors, which has been so eminently successful in the 
neighboring City of New York. 

In the year 1744 there appeared in this city a gentleman 
(perhaps none of you remember him), Dr. Alexander 
Hamilton, of Annapolis, who was a physician on a vacation, 
his fees permitting that recreation. He started oflTwith two 
horses and his negro servant, and rode all the way to Kit- 



58 Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 

tery, Maine, and back again, and on his way he stopped for 
some time in this city, and his records prove conclusively 
how early the people of Philadelphia began to set an ex- 
ample to other communities. It is a very entertaining nar- 
rative. It was placed in my hands some four or five years 
ago to edit, and there is no other document of the period I 
am acquainted with that gives such a lively impression of 
the various cities of the Colonies. Speaking of Philadel- 
phia he says, " The city in general not paved, very dirty and 
obstructed with rubbish and lumber, but their frequent 
building necessitates that. The heat in this city is excessive, 
the sun's rays being reflected with such power from brick 
houses and from streets which are paved with brick." It 
appeared that there was an epoch of high prices in Phila- 
delphia in 1744, as appears from the following extract : " In 
this city one may live tolerably cheap as to articles of meat 
and drink, but European goods here are extremely dear, 
even goods of their own make, such as linen and lumber, 
bearing high prices." Regarding the Philadelphians them- 
selves Dr. Hamilton reports that the people in general are 
inquisitive concerning strangers. If they find one comes 
there on account of trade and traffic they are fond of deal- 
ing with them and cheating them if they can. If he comes 
for pleasure they take little or no notice of him. Dr. 
Hamilton, you will observe, had come for pleasure. 

Mr. Toastmaster, you not only have credited me with be- 
ing a Pennsylvanian, you have credited me with being an his- 
torian. That is a charge a little more difficult to meet. It 
ig true that a student of Harvard College was overheard by 
the Dean of the College some years ago explaining to his 
mother the relations of the place, and he said, " There is 
nobody in this world that has such a cinch as a professor of 
Harvard College. Four months in the year they do not 
have to do a thing. Eight months all they have to do is to 
sit in a chair and talk." It would appear, then, that the 
qualifications for a professor of history in the college are 
not very extensive. Nevertheless, I am an historian if an 



Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 59 

interest in the sources of history may so constitute one, and 
I agree with the dictum of Addison, who said he had heard 
one of the greatest geniuses his age had produced, who as- 
sured him that on being appointed to search into records he at 
last took incredible pleasure in it. Mr. Adams has spoken 
with a great deal of pith, as he always speaks, upon the 
dangers of what might be called over-specialization in docu- 
ments, but I think there can hardly be one here who does 
not appreciate the intense pleasure that may be had from a 
study of those records, which are in themselves so cogent 
for the discovery of new facts, possibly the dislodging of an 
unsuspected ancestor, or the gaining of a new view. I see 
about me here records which ought to be and will be a de- 
light to future generations and indeed it is as James Rus- 
sell Lowell said about history : 

" If you read history all runs as smooth as grease. 
Because then the men ain't nothing more than ideas ; 
But come to make it as we must to-day, 
The idees have arms and legs and stop the way." 

It is after all the purpose of history, and the cogency of 
history is that it leads you back to other men. History in 
itself is nothing. That such a building was erected, that 
such a bridge fell, that the lightning struck at such a place, 
is of no consequence to mankind. It is the impression that 
those events made upon past generations that constitutes his- 
tory, and if interest in people that have gone constitutes an 
historian, then, Mr. Toastmaster, I claim to be an historian. 
But I have been spoken of as a Pennsylvania historian 
abroad, I trust I am no longer abroad in this company, 
where the hospitality and genial feeling which I experienced 
fifty years ago in a little village in Western Pennsylvania 
is so agreeably repeated, where I feel a common concern 
with the gentlemen of this Society. Indeed, gentlemen, 
you compare very favorably with that society whose distin- 
guished president has spoken of it as the oldest. It is known 
in Boston simply as the Society. Everybody knows what 



60 Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 

that is. It is like a good Boston lady who put No. 67 on 
her card. Everybody knew that meant Beacon Street. No 
respectable person lived anywhere else. But I observe one 
very striking difference between the two cities and the two 
societies. In Pennsylvania there are two thousand histo- 
rians, of whom the flower are here assembled. In Massa- 
chusetts, with every endeavor for the Massachusetts Histori- 
cal Society, we are able to get together but 100. The 
Massachusetts Society, as the president has said, is the best 
society in the country. [Mr. Adams : *' I said an older 
society, not a better."] It is the oldest society of the kind in 
the world. The Massachusetts Ilistorial Society is the sis- 
ter of Harvard College, and I was pained in the long list of 
magnificent gifts that had come to this Society to observe 
that some had come from graduates of Harvard College, 
who had passed their own library by. That is why the 
library of Harvard College is so small, poor and weak. It 
is because good people that have good things insist on giv- 
ing them to the Pennsylvania Historical Society in order 
that they may be stored in this building. In fact, when I 
see the number of Harvard people who are possessors ot 
great libraries and who give them elsewhere, I am tempted 
to think of Artemus "Ward's thanks to the Baldwinsville 
Fire Department, who, he said, " came gallantl}' down to our 
house, under the impression that there was a conflagration, 
but kindly refrained from squirting." Many times we have 
expected at Harvard that there would be a conflagration in 
our favor, but somehow the possessors of those treasures 
have kindly refrained from squirting. 

This Society bears an honorable reputation. Although 
so much younger than some that might be mentioned, it 
bears an honorable reputation throughout the world for its 
hospitality to searchers. The librarian of the Lennox Li- 
brary, so a friend of mine told me, once was approached 
with reference to a very rare pamphlet. There was only 
one copy known, and the searcher asked if he had it. He 
said, " Yes, I have it." He pulled out a drawer, said. 



Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 



61 



" There it is," and shoved the drawer shut again. His 
notion of the Lennox Library was a place to keep valuable 
documents away from other people. The idea of the libra- 
rian and the council and officers of this Society is and has 
long been, that your magnificent collections are here for the 
benefit of mankind, and as a student and a searcher I beg 
to thank you, sir, and this Society for the invariable kind- 
ness and hospitality with which people from all states and 
all societies are here welcomed. I understand that a young 
member of this Society is now engaged in the enterprise of 
preparing a worthy edition of the works of William Penn. 
I understand that the Society feels an interest in that work. 
You are not aware and Mr. Adams is not aware, although 
it is the case, that he is going to ask the Massachusetts His- 
torical Society at the next meeting at which he presides to 
take an interest also in that work, which is of such national 
consequence. 

'N'ow, gentlemen, I thank you for thus receiving again 
one of your wandering brethren. When I am in Pennsyl- 
vania I am always a Pennsylvanian. I have never been any- 
thing else. When I am among those who are most inter- 
ested in history I share with them the conviction that that 
is the most absorbing and fascinating subject there is in the 
world. In fact we may say of history, as we may say ot 
historical societies, as Sir Walter Raleigh said three centuries 
ago, " History hath triumphed over time, which beside noth- 
ing but eternity hath triumphed over." (Applause.) 

The Toastmaster. Gentlemen: I have the honor to 
present to you the Provost of the University of Pennsyl- 
vania, Dr. Charles Custus Harrison. 

Dr. Harrison. Mr. Toastmaster and Gentlemen: The 
University of Pennsylvania naturally desires to unite with 
all other learned societies, and with every thoughtful citizen, 
in congratulating the Historical Society upon its new home, 
where, with ample room, the treasures of history, and all 



62 Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 

that relates to the indebtedness of the present to the past 
may be in safe keeping, and guarded from fire risk. 

Perhaps no one knows better than the historian himself 
how hard it is to ascertain what the truth is, or to judge as 
between conflicting views ; the motives which have actu- 
ated men, their part in atfairs, their influence upon events, 
and, in general, the trustworthiness of their statements. It 
requires, indeed, a trained mind, free from bias or prejudice 
to arrive at accurate judgments. 

In reading the diaries of men or women of prominence 
we often feel that an entirely different view is the*true o^e. 
I can well recall having been permitted to read the record'of 
daily events of an eminent lawyer in Philadelphia; but if 
I had been writing that daily record, the account which 
would have been given by me would have lieen " toto in 
caelo" different. It is between such conflicting opinions that 
the historian is obliged to discern, and here in this noble 
home of the Historical Society are doubtless to be found 
innumerable records, dissimilar in their accounts. 

There is one matter as to which many of us have cer- 
tainly been often in doubt; it is: whether the man himself 
— even the great Shakespeare — ever intended to be inter- 
preted as his students and commentators translate him, — 
whether their thoughts were actually his thoughts, and their 
statements actually the guide of his purposes. Doubtless 
there is often read into the life and work and writings of 
men and women very many interpretations of which they 
never thought. 

The best that can be said is that such an historical place as 
this is the treasure-house of records differing one from the 
other, in the study of which the writer and student must do 
his best. 

The world is never satisfied with letting the past alone. 
Every year, in England, a lecture must be delivered upon 
William Harvey, the discoverer of the circulation of the 
blood, — with the understanding that something new con- 
cerning Harvey must be forthcoming. 



Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 63 

A few days ago, it was stated that a new autograph of 
Shakespeare and certain facts concerning litigation in which 
he was concerned, was the greatest literary " find" in one 
hundred years; and, at present, the unascertained fact as to 
whether the Globe Theatre stood upon one side of the 
street or upon the other side of the street, is agitating 
Shakespearean scholars — and many others. 

"We had all thought that we knew where Franklin was 
born, and yet our belief in what we had been taught has 
been er^rely disturbed because our great historical novelist. 
Dr. Mitchell, has recently informed the world that Benjamin 
Fl-anklin was not born in Boston, as the school books tell 
us, but that he was born in Philadelphia, in the " seven- 
teenth year of his age !" We may therefore look for some 
confusion, and probably amicable dispute, as to his new 
discovery and announcement. 

But apart from the region of theory or imagination, — 
unless there be historic doubts as to the existence of per- 
sonages, such as Benjamin Franklin or Robert Morris, or 
unless there be doubt that it is true that the written word 
remains, — there are certain historical facts of the first 
importance in reference to the University of Pennsylvania, 
to which, with your permission, I may have the honor 
briefly to address myself, in response to the invitation of 
the Society, 

But before making this statement, which seems to me of 
great significance in obligation, I wish to refer to that rela- 
tionship between the Historical Society and the University 
of Pennsylvania, which must always be a grateful bond to 
each, and of which each may well be proud. "William 
Rawle, Esq., a Trustee of the University, was your first 
President, and in his inaugural address, delivered at the Uni- 
versity of Pennsylvania, then at Ninth and Chestnut Streets, 
he says : '* The intention to form this Society was unknown 
to me until your partiality led you to request me to under- 
take the office of President, and, however unqualified, I 
have not hesitated to accept it. I have been led to this 



64 Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 

conclusion partly from the respect I felt for those who 
honored me by the selection and partly because I have long 
wished to see an institution of this sort established among 
us." In concluding his discourse, he said : " I have only to 
express an ardent hope that this Society will not — like many 
others — be marked only by vivacity of inception, apathy of 
progress, and prematureness of decay." 

Thomas Duncan, also a Trustee of the University, was 
chosen Vice-President, and Joseph Hopkinson, another Trus- 
tee of the University, was elected Corresponding Secretary. 

And now, gentlemen, as to the honor due to the State 
of Pennsylvania and its University. The earliest written 
Constitution of Pennsylvania was adopted in 1776, and in 
this Constitution it was provided that " all useful learning 
shall be duly encouraged and promoted in one or more 
Universities." 

The University of Pennsylvania is that Seat of Learning 
referred to in the first Constitution of the State of Pennsyl- 
vania. We have, therefore, the double fact that this State 
has the honor above all Commonwealths of being the only 
State to write into its first Constitution an obligation to 
maintain a university, and the University of Pennsj'lvania 
has the distinguished record of being the first university 
to be so related to any State in our Union. It is true that 
there are earlier college foundations — no one of us doubts 
that — but the University of Pennsylvania is the oldest of the 
universities in North America. It was the first to attach 
to it a Medical School, and that school was founded in 
1765 by John Morgan, — later, Physician-in-Chief to the 
American Armies under General Washington. It was the 
first university to establish law lectures, and those first law 
lectures were delivered by James Wilson, Signer of the 
Declaration of Independence, and Signer of the Constitution 
of the United States, — the lectures being delivered in the 
*' Old Building" on Fourth Street near Arch, still the prop- 
erty of the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania, and 
were attended by General and Mrs. Washington, Mr. and 



Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 65 

Mrs. Robert Morris, the members of the Congress, and, in 
general, a very distinguished aasemblage. 

While the impulses of our hearts naturally go out to all 
institutions of learning, wheresoever located, our national 
pride, our personal affection, are with the earliest of uni- 
versities, — the University of Pennsylvania. It maybe that 
the University of Virginia stands next to it in its traditions, 
but proud as Virginia is of everything Virginian, that uni- 
versity is a far second in her national traditions to the 
University of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania and Virginia 
stand alone in this regard. 

The Founders of the Nation — without whom, so far as 
we may justly conclude, the independence of this Nation 
could not for a time have been secured — were the Founders 
of the University of Pennsylvania. There were more of 
such men Signers of the Declaration of Independence than 
can be claimed by any of the thirteen original States. 

Probably three men were necessary to American Inde- 
pendence at that time, and those three men were Washing- 
ton, Franklin, and Morris. Washington was a son of no 
university, but his interest in the University of Pennsylvania 
is well known. 

I will read the names of ten men, — Founders, Trustees, 
or Alumni of the University of Pennsylvania, and all of 
them Signers of the Declaration of Independence, and this 
great audience may form its own opinion as to the heritage 
and traditions of the University of Pennsylvania, without 
further suggestion from me. Their names are : 

Benjamin Franklin, Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, 
James Wilson, George Clymer, Thomas McKean, William 
Paca, John Penn, James Smith, Francis Hopkinson. 

And with your permission may I take one later step, 
and come to the date of the signing of the Constitution 
of the United States? More Trustees and Alumni of 
" Pennsylvania" were Signers of the Constitution of the 
United States than can be attributed elsewhere. Their 
names are : 



QQ Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 

Benjamin Franklin, Eobert Morris, JamesWilson, Thomas 
Mifflin, George Clymer, Jared Ingersol. 

Of the University's further part in the historic Revolution, 
the world knows, but there is one incident which has been 
already graphically described by the distinguished historian 
of Lafayette. As Mr. Tower has told us, it was Tench 
Tilghman, of the Class of 1761, College, the favorite Aide- 
de-Camp of Washington, who was chosen by "Washington to 
bear his dispatch to the Congress, then at the Seat of Gov- 
ernment in Philadelphia, to announce the surrender of 
Cornwallis at Yorktown. But Mr. Tower has told in words 
far choicer than I can command, how young Tilghman 
aroused the sleeping town with the cry: "Cornwallis is 
taken!" as he galloped from the Gray's Ferry, down the 
unpaved street of this centre of American history. 

We are speaking of history, to-night, and not of present 
events; but I cannot conclude without asking your fair 
judgment as to whether or not the State of Pennsylvania 
has justified her Constitutional Act in 1776, and whether 
the University of Pennsylvania has been true to her ancestry. 

It is uncertain, as yet, whether Columbia University, in 
the City of New York, or whether the University of Penn- 
sylvania has the largest student-body. It is not uncertain 
that the University of Pennsylvania has the most cosmopol- 
itan student-body of any University in the United States. 
How well it has fulfilled its work of adding to the knowl- 
edge of the world, both as to what is unknown in nature 
and what has been forgotten in the history of the race, need 
not be told here. 

This is an historic occasion ; an occasion to which the 
State of Pennsylvania is indebted; an occasion to which the 
University of Pennsylvania is indebted ; an occasion to 
which all societies of similar purposes and all associations 
of learned men are indebted. 

The import of the occasion may be expressed in the 
transposition of the indefinite article " a" to the definite 
article " the." It is " The Historical Society of the State of 



Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 67 

Pennsylvania," with its home in the City of Philadelphia, 

the home and the city with traditions, inheritances, and 
consequent obligations descended upon us and enjoyed by 
us; and in the keeping of no like society, or of no other 
city between the two oceans. 

There is no person in whose presence it is more grateful 
to refer to such historic facts as have been here briefly 
recounted, than in that of the distinguished Pennsylvanian 
who is the President of the Historical Society, to whom 
everything adding to the renown of his native State is a 
matter of essential consequence, and deeply dear to his 
heart and mind. 

The Toastmaster. Gentlemen : I have now the very 
great pleasure of presenting to you a distinguished Pennsyl- 
vania statesman, who is not only respected and honored in 
his own State, but who has taken a foremost position as a 
representative of Pennsylvania in the councils of the Nation, 
in the Congress of the United States, and who will address 
you upon the subject of "The Susquehanna And Its Asso- 
ciations," Hon. Marlin E. Olmsted. 

Hon. Marlin E. Olmsted. Mr. Toastmaster and Gen- 
tlemen : Your assignment to me of this toast, " The Sus- 
quehanna and its Associations," reminds me of a good old 
farmer's wife, who having endeavored vainly to restrain the 
maternal instincts of a persistent hen, finally placed her 
upon a hundred eggs, saying " I know she can't cover them, 
but I want to see the old thing spread herself" The Sus- 
quehanna and her associations caimot be covered at one sit- 
ting. The first white man to have association with the 
lower end of the stream was Capt. John Smith. Having 
been saved from the tomahawk by the intervention of a 
lady, he tells us in a book which he published in England, 
that he explored the Susquehanna from its mouth as far 
north as his barge could proceed for the rocks. That must 
have been, judging from my own experience, about four 



68 Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 

miles, and yet from one end of that stream to the other 
there have been more babies named after him than after any 
other man save George Washington. 

i;:_ My own association with that stream began at the other 
end. I celebrated my coming of age with three com- 
panions unintentionally by spending the night on the outer 
edge of a marsh, on the narrow summit ridge of a moun- 
tain. When we wakened in the morning we found that the 
water from that marsh on one side oozed out and trickled 
down the hillside into the waters of the Susquehanna, and 
from the other side it reached the Allegheny. There are 
hundreds of such divides in northern Pennsylvania, and one 
barn from whose peaked roof the rain drops to the Susque- 
hanna from one side and from the other side to the Alle- 
gheny. There is one farm of 100 acres having three 
springs whose waters, thus pouring out of the earth so 
closely together, run from one spring to Chesapeake Bay, 
from another to the Gulf of Mexico, and from the third to 
the Gulf of St. Lawrence. They form the sources of the 
Susquehanna, the Allegheny, and the Genesee. 

Now that the cost of living is so high, if any of you have 
thought of turning to eels for diet, it may interest you to 
know that although the sources of these streams are so inter, 
twined, the waters of the Susquehanna and Genesee abound 
in that article and not one has ever been found in the Alle- 
gheny. My present home is upon the bank of that magnificent 
river, which, flowing through some of the fairest country 
that God in his goodness has vouchsafed to man, between 
banks studded with beautiful cities and innumerable thriv- 
ing towns and villages, finds its way to the sea unaided by a 
single dollar of Congressional appropriation, without even 
honorable mention in the River and Harbor Bill. Here 
upon the Delaware you clamor for a thirty-five foot channel. 
The Allegheny and the Monongahela, particularly the lat- 
ter, have been aided in their slack water navigation by many 
a Government dam, but the Government does not seem to 
consider the Susquehanna worth a particle of consideration. 



Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 69 

But we do not mind that. Our river is broader and longer 
than the Delaware, but its banks are not lined with 
unsightly wharves, docks, warehouses, and other structures. 
It is one broad, unfettered expanse of beauty, not devoted, 
as the Delaware is, to commerce, but to the esthetic. Its 
banks are not covered with landing places for the discharge 
of the contents of scows and barges, but adorned by insti- 
tutions devoted to religion, to education, to culture and 
refinement, and to the graceful dwellings of people who 
value the esthetic and beautiful in nature more than the 
practical in commerce. Our river is broader and longer 
than the Delaware, but the bottom is so near the surface 
as to exclude therefrom the navigational pursuit of sor- 
did wealth. If I touch on the river occasionally it will 
be only at its most important parts. Naturally I speak 
of Ilarrisburg, but before we reach that point I want to 
suggest that there may be gentlemen in this distinguished 
company to-night who do not realize what a really beautiful 
river that is. Draining about l-7th of ISTew York, nearly 
half of Pennsylvania and a portion of Maryland, it Hows its 
420 miles from Otsego Lake to Chesapeake Bay, through 
some of the most beautiful, some of the richest, some of the 
most romantic, some of the most historically interesting 
portions of all God's beautiful creation. There is no more 
beautiful country anywhere than at and about Harrisburg, 
and there are many ties which bind Harrisburg and Phila- 
delphia together. For instance, the elder John Harris came 
from England to Philadelphia with only a capital of sixteen 
guineas, and we are told by a writer in the Annual Register 
that the nucleus of his future wealth was formed by a 
profitable contract which he made for the pulling of stumps 
and opening of streets in Philadelphia, where he enjoyed 
the friendship and esteem of Edward Shippen, its first 
mayor. John Harris's bones lie to-day upon the bank of 
the river near the roots of the old mulberry tree to which a 
hostile tribe of Indians tied him. They had piled fagots 
about him, and were circling about in the death dance 



70 Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 

preparatory to applying the torch, when a friendly tribe 
came to his rescue, coming from near the mouth of that 
delightful tributary of the Susquehanna upon which I and 
some other Harrisburgers have their homes, that beautiful 
stream rejoicing in the classic name of Yellow Breeches. 
I read his tombstone no longer ago than last Sunday, and 
it informs all readers that John Harris, who lies buried 
there, was the friend of William Penn, whose portrait we 
have 60 prominent to-night, and the founder of Harris- 
burg, died in the communion of the Church of England. 
That was deemed a sufficient epitaph, John Harris, the 
founder, was brought here when eleven months of age from 
Harrisburg by his godly mother, all the way over the trail 
and through the woods to Philadelphia, to be baptized. It 
must have taken about three weeks to come here and get 
back again, and the trip was accompanied by perils and 
sacrifices of which we know nothing to-day. John Harris, 
the founder, was poetical and practical. He founded his 
city there because of the great scenic beauty, and as well 
because of its advantage as a centre for business. He had 
such abiding faith in the proposition that that was the only 
place where the capital could be properly located, that 
twenty-five years before the Legislature reached that con- 
clusion he had dedicated that admirable hill for the uses of 
the State, that hill upon Avhich the capitol buildings are 
now located, and I may say to you now that we have at 
Harrisburg, and it belongs to you as much as it does to us, 
the finest State Capitol in this country (ap[)lause), and if 
we except the National Capitol at "Washington it is the 
handsomest and finest public building in the United States. 
(Applause.) [N'otwithstanding all that has been said about 
it, and notwithstanding all that has been written about it, 
and notwithstanding all possible overcharges that may have 
been made by some people who did not dwell upon the 
Susquehanna, it is in proportion to its size and character 
the cheapest and least expensive public building in the 
United States. (Applause.) Harrisburg itself is growing. 



Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 71 

It is a wonderful city, notwithstanding the discriminations 
which in time^past have been made against it. Why, the 
State herself, when she operated public works, discriminated 
against Ilarrisburg in a way that in these days of public 
condemnation of transportation discriminations and draw- 
backs seems perfectly horrible, Philadelphia was allowed a 
drawback of twenty cents a barrel on flour transported 
from Pittsburg here over the public works, a sum exceeding 
the total charge now made by the Pennsylvania Railroad 
for such transportation. To be perfectly candid, the dis- 
crimination was not aimed so mifch at Ilarrisburg as at 
Baltimore, for it was feared if it were dropped off there it 
would be diverted to Baltimore from Harrisburg, and I 
may say to you that if the Susquehanna had a thirty-five 
foot channel from Ilarrisburg to Chesapeake Bay it would 
crowd Philadelphia very hard for commercial supremacy, 
and I am not sure but we would push you off the map, but 
we are perfectly satisfied with our beautiful city and its 
growing attractiveness. It is now one of the best lighted, 
best paved, best kept, and best governed cities in the coun- 
try, and more than ever now it is the worthy home of the 
capital of this great, proud Commonwealth, the Keystone in 
the arch of our great, glorious, indestructible union of States. 
The Susquehanna and its tributaries. Mr. Toastmaster, 
a hundred historians have written of them, a hundred poets 
have sung of them. There is no portion of this land more 
rich in Indian lore and Indian legend. No portion has been 
more frequently drenched in the blood shed by the redman's 
murderous hands. The stories of Wyoming, of Cherry 
Valley, the forts beginning at Fort Hunter or Fort Harris 
at Harrisburg, Fort Hunter five miles up the river, then 
across and along the Kittatinny mountains all the way to 
the Delaware, are significant of the trials, tribulations and 
struggles of those early days. The pioneers of the Susque- 
hanna were stalwart, hardy, bold, intrepid men, soldiers of 
human progress. Their habits of frugality, industry, econ- 
omy and thrift we might emulate to-day, for we are living 



72 Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 

in an era of unexampled, untrammelled, wild luxury, ex- 
travagance, and waste. Take the matter of automobiles 
alone. What would those early pioneers think if they were 
told that in the last year there were spent in this country 
in the purchase, running, and repairing of automobiles more 
than $250,000,000, more than half the enormous produc- 
tion of gold throughout the world, a sum greater than the 
cost of running all the postoffices, all the mail routes, and 
all the mail facilities for 80,000,000 of people, a sum greater 
than the cost of maintenance of all the armies and navies 
of the United States. One extravagance leads to another. 
The Associated Charities in Washington, of which the late 
Justice Brewer was president when he died, is now begging 
for eight or ten thousand dollars, which they are short in 
their subscriptions, and the reason they give is that people 
have spent so much money for automobiles this year that 
they have been unable to keep up their contributions to 
charity. I mention this merely as one instance of the ex- 
travagance of the age, an extravagance which is national, 
state, and individual, and is sure to bring its results. You 
of Philadelphia have always struggled to get to Harrisburg ; 
you have sent us some of your worst men, and you have 
sent a great many of your best, whose society we have very 
much enjoyed. They have not all come with the pride, 
pomp, and circumstance of Chief Justice (afterward Gov- 
ernor) McKean, who when he came there to hold court ex- 
pected to be and was met at the outskirts and escorted into 
the city by a couple of hundred of our citizens of Harris- 
burg, and who sat on the bench wearing a cocked hat and a 
scarlet gown. Later statesmen have been more modest. 
Some years ago, in the early days of the Civil War, there 
came to Harrisburg a lad whose soul was filled with patriot- 
ism and his heart fired with ambition to serve his imperiled 
country. The city was somewhat overcrowded at the time, 
and for want of a better lodging he slept in the portico of 
the old capitol, its cold stone floor his couch, his knapsack 
for a pillow. Some years after that war you called him 



Formal Openi/ng of the New Fireproof Building. 73 

here to be your judge. He served you so well and so 
noticeably to the State that the entire Commonwealth called 
him again to Harrisburg, not to give him lodging this time 
upon the outer porch, but to occupy the executive mansion 
as Chief Executive Officer of this Commonwealth. (Ap- 
plause.) He came at a time when a strong hand was 
needed to check the growing tide of questionable legisla- 
tion. He did it. During his four years there was placed 
upon the statute books an unusually large number of wise 
and salutary laws. More was done for the cause of com- 
mon schools, the cause of education, for the cause of good 
rule, and for the preservation of law and order throughout 
this Commonwealth, than had been done before in any one 
administration of which I have knowledge. Moreover, he 
served the Commonwealth not only in material matters but 
in others as well. There is no place where a society like 
this is needed more than in Pennsylvania, where too many 
of our citizens have been too much given over to money 
making to give proper time and consideration to the con- 
templation and recording of the deeds of worthy Pennsyl- 
vanians, who have done what should make them famous 
throughout the State and throughout the country. He 
of whom I speak was constant in bringing Pennsylvania 
to the front in every way, in looking up her history, in 
making public, in giving due credit to the notable deeds 
of notable Pennsylvauians, and when you came to select an 
officer you could not have chosen more appropriately or 
better than in selecting him. Of course, I refer to your 
distinguished President, Hon. Samuel W. Pennypacker. 
(Applause.) 

The Toastmaster. Gentlemen: The speaker who will 
make the last address this evening is a gentieman known 
to you all, and esteemed by you all, a typical and en- 
lightened Pennsylvanian, who will address you upon the 
picturesque Pennsylvania German, Hon. William U. Hensel. 
(Applause.) 



74 Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 

Hon. William U. Hensel : Wie gehts, Mr. President and 
beloved brotherhood ? In a recent review of the gaiety of 
the early Puritans it is related that a good woman of Dor- 
chester, in 1688, making a testamentary disposition of her 
wearing apparel, enumerated the following articles : A best 
red kersey petticoat, a sad gray kersey waistcoat, a blue 
apron, a mulberry waistcoat, a liver gray hood, a purple 
bonnet, six yards of red cloth, and a green apron. It is 
very much to be feared that with the passing of the New 
England farm this cheerful variety of raiment disappeared 
from its domestic landscape. Owing to the very scant 
recognition in our imaginative literature of a highly inter- 
esting and important element in the composite citizenship 
of Pennsylvania, the picturesque features of its rural life in 
some sections are not known to the people generally, and 
are too little appreciated by those who are most familiar 
with them. A mile or two from where I live the other 
evening I passed a place on which a spacious house is 
painted an almost sentimental lavender tint, the wagon- 
shed is a rich orange, the barn a royal red, and the pig pen 
a delightful crushed strawberry. Across a blue front gate 
there leaned an Amish maid with a face that fitted the per- 
spective of an Italian sky, covered by a purple bonnet, clad 
in a red waist and a green skirt with a lilac colored cape. 
This recurring combination of local color attests the pres- 
ence of one of the many religious families who make up 
the widely extended and greatly diversified element known 
as the Pennsylvania German, whose trail across the entire 
continent is marked by evidences of the quiet, orderly, and 
Godly life of industry and thrift through the old dream of 
Pastorius. For two hundred years the patient peasant 
folk have worn the yoke and have followed the furrow of 
their fathers. They are not a passing people, but in many 
localities they have long since plowed down the iron heel 
of more audacious and aggressive races. Albeit they have 
made and kept for many rich counties of eastern Pennsyl- 
vania their agricultural pre-eminence, their racial tenacity 



Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 75 

of land, and their application of labor to its possibilities, 
have alike contributed wealth to the nation and a sober 
citizenship to the American commonwealth. (Applause.) 

I am glad of this occasion to emphasize the failure of the 
idealist with pen or pencil to picture their life as it really 
exists and their character as it actually is. The most con- 
spicuous adventurer into this unbroken ground for fiction 
has approached the subject in a spirit of hostility to and 
not of sympathy with it. A leading publishing house is 
brutally frank in advertising works that portray the com- 
mon, sordid, unlovely atmosphere of a Pennsylvania Dutch 
community, and an eminent reviewer accepts them with 
the consolation that the facts of life presented prevail among 
a comparatively limited number, composing a community 
where medireval conditions still exist. Indeed, I suspect 
that among some of the stern moralists of Philadelphia, and 
some of the still purer patriots of Pittsburgh, much regret 
is felt and some has been expressed that an uncouth and 
unlovely race should people and should plant so much of 
the land intervening between these metropolitan centres of 
sweetness and of light. (Applause.) 

To him, however, who in the love of mankind holds 
communion with its inner life, there is to be found in the 
so-called Pennsylvania Germans as a people a picturesque- 
ness of character that no literary artist has yet fathomed or 
been able to express. The more aggressive churchmen 
constitute the larger element, and they have made them- 
selves felt and understood through spokesmen of their own, 
who with shield and spear have defended and asserted the 
rights and the merits of their class, but the literary methods 
of dealing with the so-called plain people have been more 
those of the surgeon, who would exploit the beauty of the 
Greek Yenus by the ruthless processes of the clinic, or de- 
monstrate the splendor of the intellect by laying a scalpel 
to the brain. The historic background of that race of 
people who settled on the Pequa and the Conestoga is a 
story of rehgious prescription, patient persistence, and toil- 



76 Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 

some achievement as dramatic as that of the Quaker or the 
Puritan. (Applause.) 

The delightful dogmatism and the conscientious conserva- 
tism which impel them to still sing the hymns of the father- 
land and to wear the garb of two centuries ago, make an 
island of refuge in a sea of social giddiness, tempestuous 
politics, and restless religion. Is there nothing more than 
comicality in the fact that a man deems it sinful to substi- 
tute buttons for hooks and eyes on his coat and trowsers, 
or that women stake their souls' salvation on whether their 
cap strings shall be tied or let fly wild ? Has the spirit ot 
hair-splitting scholasticism and sectarianism so banished 
free thought from the Church that there shall be only sneers 
for the intellectual independence of that sequestered settle- 
ment in the Juniata Valle}^ where four branches of the 
Church are divided on the vital question of whether a man 
may righteously wear any suspenders, or only one " gallus " 
home-made, or two if of domestic product, or a full pair of 
mechanical fixbrication ? Shall proud scholasticism look 
with scorn upon the solemn scene when a minister of the 
Church is to be chosen and a score of candidates cast lots 
for the apostolic succession, and one lives in anguish forever 
afterward because he was appointed to a place he felt unfit 
to fill, and another dies in grief because the call of fate did 
not confirm his own ambition to become a saviour of men ? 
Is there no fraternity among those who refuse for religious 
reasons to insure their barns or to erect lightning rods, 
but contribute generously to the full share of a neighbor's 
loss ? Are they utterly unmindful of the elementary prin- 
ciples of Christian brotherhood who settle their disputes in 
the church, and refuse to resist even illegal and unjust 
demands at law ? He or she who, with real literary art, 
shall depict the domestic life of these people, will find pro- 
fuse picturesqueness in manifold phases of it. Their thrift 
and industry, the simplicity of their speech, their humanity 
to animal life, their uncomplaining toil, their loyal afi'ection 
for the soil, are a few aspects of their character and habits 



Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 77 

which still await the successful development of the idealist. 
Their plain, comfortable, and well filled meeting houses, 
where the old men sit on the high benches and the babies 
sleep peacefully in cradles, or the more picturesque assem- 
blages for worship of groups of families at different houses 
in turn; the great love feasts in the barns where under the 
dim light of lanterns the youngsters crowd the balconies in 
the haymow, long tables are spread on the threshing floor, 
and bearded elders girt with towels officiate at the ceremony 
of feet-washing; the solemn funerals, the hospitable entertain- 
ment of the hundreds of sorrowing mourners; the festivities 
of a wedding, when all-day marriage suppers and successive 
feasts discount the social pleasures of the city cotillion or 
the delights of the metropolitan opera; these and a few 
other features, which the social critics of their daily lives 
have never yet appreciated, make up and illustrate a citizen- 
ship the retention of which is a treasure to the State, and 
the extinction of which would be an irreparable historical 
loss. (Applause.) 

A very notable figure in modern American literature, 
and one who if he has not attained has come perilously 
near his own ideal, recently said, " My idea is that a novel 
should be a reflection of the life and manners it undertakes 
to portray. It should be absolutely true in this regard, but 
touched by imagination into a form of truth. It should 
be so well written that any reader would be enthralled by 
its story and feel that he has become a part of its life and 
knows its characters, and it should sink so deep into tiie 
heart that the reader should rise from it with a feeling that 
life was worth living and had work for him to do." God 
grant that when some day some man or woman shall deal 
with the picturesque features of the Pennsylvania German 
in this artistic spirit, the world of letters at least may know 
him better, and may it not be that from out this folk itselt 
there shall stretch the master hand to take up the harp ot 
life and so smite its trembling cords that the music shall be 
as true as the melody shall be tuneful. (Applause.) 



78 Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 



Guests of the Society. 



Hon. Charles Francis Adams, 

Richard L. Austin, 

Louis S. Amonson, 

Thomas P. Bacon, 

Dr. Geo. Fales Baker, 

H. F. Baker, 

Thomas Willing Balch, 

Samuel Bell, Jr., 

Dr. Alex. W. Biddle, 

John S. Bioren, 

Rudolph Blankenburg, 

Cornelius Bodine, 

Franklin I. Bodine, 

George I. Bodine, 

George I. Bodine, Jr., 

Joseph H. Brazier, 

Richard S. Brock, 

Albert Brodhead, 

Dr. M. G. Brumbaugh, 

John Cadwalader, 

Richard M. Cadwalader, 

Gordon S. Carrigan, 
Hon. Hampton L. Carson, 
J. H. Carstairs, 
Joseph H. Chubb, 
B. Frank Clapp, 
Isaac H. Clothier, 
John H. Couaway, 
Col. C. A. Converse, 
Dr. J. Cardeen Cooper, 
Dr. John Welsh Croskey, 
Edwin S. Dixon, 
William Drayton, 
George A. Elsasser, 
George Harrison Fisher, 
Hon. D. Newlin Fell, 
Barr Ferree, 
S. B. Fotterall, 
John H. Fow, 
Dr. L. Webster Fox, 
Howard B. French, 
Horace H. Fritz, 



W. A. Glasgow, Jr., 

John C. Groome, 

Chas. Francis Gummey, 

William T. Gummey, 

Prof. Albert Bushnell Hart, 

Hon. William U. Hensel, 

Samuel Verplanck Hoffman, 

Charles H. Heustis, 

J. Warren Hale, 

Dr. Charles Custis Harrison, 

John J. Henderson, 

Stan. V. Henkels, 

C. J. Hexamer, 

William G. Hopper, 

W. Macpherson Hornor, 

John P. Hutchinson, 

Addison Hutton, 

C, E. Ingersoll, 

Charles F. Jenkins, 

J. Levering Jones, 

John W. Jordan, 

Gregory B. Keen, 

John F. Lewis, 

Major W. H. Lambert, 

James L. Lardner, 

James G. Lei per, 

Lewis J. Levick, 
William S. Lloyd, 
John C. Lowry, 
Clayton McElroy, 
John D. Mcllhenny, 
Prof. J. Bach McMaster, 
Thomas H. Marshall, 
Caleb J. Milne, 
David Milne, 
Randal Morgan, 
Dr. J. H. Musser, 
Dr. George W. Norris, 
Lieut. Col. J. P. Nicholson, 
Hon. M. E. Olmsted, 
Admiral E. C. Pendleton, 
S. Davis Page, 



Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building. 79 



T. H. Hoge Patterson, 

George Pierce, 

James L. Pennypacker, 

Hon. S. W. Pennypacker, 

Hon. William Potter, 

Hon. W. P. Potter, 

W. K. Ramborger, 

Lieut. Col. W. Brooke Rawle, 

Hon, John E. Reyburn, 

Dr. W. J. Roe, 

A. S. W. Rosenbach, 

J. G. Rosengarten, 

Edward S. Sayres, 

C. Morton Smith, 

John T. Spencer, 

George Steinman, 

J. J. Sullivan, Jr., 

Ernest SpofFord, 



Dr. James Tyson, 
Hon. Charlemagne Tower, 
John Thomson, 
A. VanRenssaelaer, 
Dr. C. H. Vinton, 
Hon. H. F. Walton, 
Samuel C. Wells, 
Jos. R. Wainw right 
T. Chester Walbridge, 
James V. Watson, 
W. H. Wetherill, 
Francis H. Williams, 
George Willing, 
Joseph R. Wilson, 
W. C. Wilson, 
Hon. W. W. Wiltbank, 
Howard Wood, 
Walter Wood. 



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